The Gulf
by Nadie2
Summary: In this AU, Sam and Jack are both single when they meet during the Gulf War. Will misunderstanding shatter their romance? This story has more fluff than sadness. Also plenty of Jacob Carter.
1. Part 1 Chapter 1

**AU-A couple of big changes that lead to other changes here****,**** folks.**

**1. Sam broke up with Jonas much earlier in the relationship, while still at the academy, and before they got engaged.**

**2. Jack never met Sara.****He has, up to the start of this story, had no real long term relationships.**

**3. Sam and Jack have their first encounter during Desert Storm.**

**4. In this story Jack likes instead of hates clichés, just because.**

**Part 1: 1990 Iraqi desert**

Jack O'Neill was going to die. He could feel it. He'd been close to death more than once, but none of those times felt like this.

It wasn't like he'd expected it to be. There was no life flashing before his eyes. He felt no need to make a long speech of goodbye (not that there was anyone to give it to, all of his men were unconscious. Or deadn he wasn't sure which it was). It wasn't noble, and it didn't make him understand everything about the world.

It was just cold, and as painful as hell.

And then there she is, her blond hair like a halo. Halo... so she must be an angel. Well, hell, if he'd known this was what heaven was like, he would have offed himself years ago.

"Angel," he whispers.

"Sir, you've lost a lot of blood, try not to speak," his angel replies.

Damn, why is his angel calling him 'sir'? Maybe he's in the wrong heaven. Some guys would get off on this, maybe, having authority over a woman. But that's not for him.

He doesn't even like it when his men call him 'sir'; he prefers that they and he use the last name instead of rank.

"Sir, you have to stay with me, focus," he angel demands.

And he feels her putting pressure on her wounds. Damn, that hurts. Wait, it still hurts. So he's not in heaven, because the pain is supposed to stop when you die. Right? God, he hopes so. Because if heaven could hurt, eternity was too damn long.

If he's not dead, he's still in charge of his men. He looks around, trying to figure out whether or not he is the ranking officer. The pain is too intense to look around, so he figures he'll take charge until proven otherwise.

Angel is a First Lieutenant to his Lieutenant Colonel, so he definitely outranks her.

"Damn, plane ran out of fuel," he explains.

"I know, sir, it was the weather," she says as she ties something around his wounds.

"We can't get out of here," he tells her. She has to know they are doomed.

She smiles, "Sir, when your plane went down, my squad leader ordered me to land, and save your asses."

"You're the pilot?" he asks.

She heaves him up with more force than necessary, "I also hold the arm wrestling record in my squadron."

"Then you are my dream woman," he says with a semi-lucid smirk. Sam's somewhat limited medical training informs her that this man is going to pass out soon.

"Sir, you've lost a lot of blood, so I'm going to ignore that comment."

"But you are beautiful, angel," he says, reaching one delirious hand up to stroke her cheek.

Normally Sam hates nicknames, especially cutesy ones. She'd broken up with her last boyfriend for the offense of repeatedly calling her "Babe" in an obnoxious possessive way. But somehow she likes the name 'angel'.

"Come on, sir," she says, heaving the man into the plane. Normally, she'd ask for help instead of trying to move an injured man who weighed more than her. But her teammates are working pretty hard to load the rest of his men into the craft.

Once he's in the plane, she does one more check on her patient before getting back into the pilot seat.

He grabs her arm, "I was sure I was dying, and when I saw you I knew I was in heaven."

"That's an old line, sir," she replies.

-0-0-0-

Samantha Carter never really liked hospitals.

She'd gotten very sick when she was little. She didn't really remember it, but her mother had claimed that's where her fear of hospitals began. They'd banished Sam's family from the room and held her down to take her blood while she screamed for her mother.

Sam's fear of hospitals had gotten a lot worse when she was twelve, and she'd sat in a hospital for two days watching her mother slip form life after her car accident.

Her father had done everything to get her out of that room, to sleep or to eat or to shower.

But as much as Sam hates hospitals, as much as she hated watching her mother die, there are more important things than her hatred. Her mother didn't deserve to die alone, and she could hold her mother's hand so she would know that someone was with her.

Death was different than she thought it would be. She always thought it would be loud, or obvious, or grand. But death was just empty. She'd known right away though. Her mother had just laid silent for two days, unconscious. But the second that she died, Sam had known.

She'd left her mother's hospital room the second it happened. Being near to death was something she never wanted to be again.

His eyes flutter open, "Angel, there is a whole war going on out there, what are you doing standing guard over my bedside?"

"The mission is over, and I'm on leave," she tells him.

"Did we win?" he asks boyishly. She can't help but smirk at the inappropriateness of his question.

"Some mission objectives were accomplished, but the main one was a failure," she admits.

"My men?" he asks.

"All of them made it but the pilot. The last one was just moved from critical to stable condition an hour ago. They are all improving."

"And you got nothing better to do with your leave than hover over an old man's bed?" he teases.

"Well, being a guardian angel is a big responsibility, sir," she says.

"Jack," he corrects.

"I'm glad to see you conscious, Jack," she says.

"Listen, when I'm a little bit better, I have to buy you a drink for saving my life," he says.

She blushes.

"Unless you don't drink," he adds, confused by her look.

"Actually I win about as many drinking contests as arm wrestling contests," Sam admits.

"My kind of girl," Jack says, then another though occurs to him, "Unless you're already someone's girl, Angel."

"I'm no one's girl," she says with an edge of offense, "And I got rid of my last boyfriend for precisely the kind of male chauvinism you just demonstrated."

"I'll just have to make sure not to display it again," he says with a smirk.

"You're pretty sure of yourself for someone in a hospital bed," she says.

"Well I've got a lovely combination of Messiah Complex and Florence Nightingale Effect going for me right now. I've got to take advantage of it while it lasts."

"Oh, and he's got a brain behind that handsome face," she says.

"Well, they don't promote based on looks. If they did, you'd be a hundred-star general, Angel," he says.

She shakes her head, "Hundred-star general? Do you find girls who actually enjoy that sort of hyperbole?"

"Not really," he says, and there is a bit of honest sadness in his eyes.

She wishes the teasing had stayed light. She realizes that he's all alone. And that it's not his choice. Not like it is for her. Sam had never had a problem with getting someone to date her. It was just getting someone worth her time.

"I don't know you took a cliché like the heaven pick-up line and it came off… less lame than you'd expect," she says.

"Less lame, exactly what I was aiming for," he says.

"Sir, you're awake? Would you like your dinner?" a nurses interrupts.

Jack nods, and the nurse brings in soup and jello.

"Hey! The supply manager swore to me they were out of jello a week ago!" Sam protests.

"Maybe they got some more," he says with a shrug.

"He told me that he was going tell me when he got some more," she pouts.

"Have mine," he offers.

"Sir, you were in a plane crash today," she informs him.

"It was not a crash! It was an emergency landing!" he exclaims.

She examines his face, "They thought the… Captain was flying. Was it you sir?"

"I was the co-pilot. I thought he could do it. Damn, I never should have trusted him, he died because of me," Jack cried.

Sam remembers something about the crash. "You pulled up at the last second, sir?"

Jack nods.

"That's why only one man died instead of everyone on that plane," she says. "You saved them, sir."

"Naw, you did the saving, Angel."


	2. Part 1 Chapter 2

**One week Later**

"Jack, I'm going on a patrol today," she says.

"Think you could shove me in your field bag, Angel?" he pleads.

"You might weigh me down," she says with a giggle. God, he's come to love her giggles over the last couple of days. He's not very good at making jokes, and he knows that he's not very good at making jokes, but she is willing to laugh at anything that he puts before her.

"Come on, no officer is worth their salt who can't carry their own body weight on a mission."

"Taking you along would result in me carrying a lot more than my body weight."

"Are you calling me fat?" he asks with false incredulous tone.

"Of course not, sir, but you plus my field pack would be over my weight," she says.

"But just barely," he says.

"Right, just barely," she agrees with a giggle.

"Well, I'm getting sprung from this place tonight, so I was thinking we could share a meal, something besides jello."

"Oh, goodie, is it going to be MRE?" she asks with fake enthusiasm.

"I hope I can do a little better than that," he says.

"Right, and you owe me a drink as well," she says.

"Fly well, angel girl."

-0-0-0-

Sam's exhausted, and dirty from the mission. All she can think about is a shower, and a nap. She's figures she'll shower and then cancel her date with Jack O'Neill.

But that thought flees from her mind when she enters her quarters. Most officers slept four to a tent. It's better than barracks quarters, which are fifteen to a tent. But as the only female officer in the squadron, Sam got her own tent. When she enters her tent to grab her clothes for after her shower, she sees a note.

"Officer mess, 2000."

And her heart soars. She feels way more for this man that she should. And she knows… if she cancels tonight, he's never going to believe it's just because she's tired. He's going to take it as rejection, and she already knows that he's been rejected enough in his life.

She can't hurt him. And she doesn't even feel that tired anymore.

She glances at her watch, and discovers that she really doesn't have much time. She grabs her shower bag, and heads for the bathrooms.

-0-0-0-

It's too much, Jack decides. She's going to walk into this officer mess, and freak out. He's going to scare her off.

He stands up to pull some of the crepe paper off the wall.

"What are you doing?" Angel's voice stops him.

"It's too much," he turns, flinching, with the decoration still in his hand.

She giggles at his bashfulness. He's kind of old to pull off that lost little boy look, but nonetheless he does it well. "I think it's just enough. But isn't it going to confuse the other officers that come in here?"

"There will be no other officers coming in here."

"What did you do?" she asks coyly.

"I just… asked them not to come in," he says.

She giggles again.

"I, uh… don't know what you like to drink, but I only have one choice."

"Guinness," she says.

"Being an Irishman from Chicago, I couldn't very well have a different favorite beer."

"I usually don't drink beer, whiskey or vodka normally. My dad sometimes had one after work."

Jack nods his head, "My old man had a lot more than one."

Sam flinches and turns away for a second. And he wishes that he hadn't revealed whatever offended her.

"What's wrong?"

"My mom was killed by a drunk driver," she says softly.

"God, I'm sorry," he whispers. There is a long pause. He really doesn't want to share any more about his past, but he knows the scales are unequal. He has to share something more about himself to even things up, to give what is between them a chance. "My old man, he, ah… he didn't drive when he was drunk." He almost loses his courage, and stops there, but then he continues, "But he did other things, just as bad."

"He hit you?" she asks with furious indignation.

Jack shakes his head, "My mom, though. She left him when I was about thirteen. We had a couple of really tough years. We left with nothing, and she didn't have any jobs or skills. She was a stay-at-home mother her whole life, for me, and my three little brothers. Suddenly she had to get a job, and pay the bills, and… lots of other stuff she didn't know how to do."

"Once, I was eight years old. He was beating up my mom…again. And I tried to stop it. He left a pretty angry welt on my face. And as soon as he passed out, she packed up the car, and we left. Never looked back. I don't even know if he's still alive. I don't really care.'

"I'm so sorry, sir," she whispers.

"That's part of the reason I joined the Air Force. There were a couple of rough years when mom first left him. She'd never had a job. She got pregnant with me at eighteen, and she was a stay at home mom until she left me. The air force was a way to make pretty good money to help my mom out right out of high school."

"Right out of high school? But you're an officer," she says, confused.

He has a bemused smirk.

"You're a mustang?" she asks in shock.

He nods, a bit bashfully.

"Well, color me impressed," she says.

"I think I should be more impressed by you. I bet you got straight As all through high school, and then went on to pull the same grades at the Academy."

"Did you read my personal file?" she asks, a little creeped out, and moving back from him.

"Am I really that good a guesser?" he asks.

"You really didn't read my file?" she asks.

"Angel, I don't even know your name."

"It's…" she begins, but he cuts her off, "Nope, don't tell me, more fun this way."

She grins for a second, before she frowns. "So you're really not even going to bother to learn my name. I'm that unimportant to you?"

"You are not a ship passing in the night, angel," he tells her seriously.

She stares at him for a few seconds before she says, "So what kind of MRE are we having today? I bet it tastes like chicken. They all do."

"Yeah, what we have is a step above MRE's," he says, handing her a plate.

"This looks like real food," she says.

"Well, I sure hope so," he says with a smile.

"I know, I just mean… you don't see real food on base very often."

"You ever talk to the cook, Airman Michaels?"

She shakes her head.

"He went to the culinary arts institute before he enlisted."

"No offense, but you wouldn't know it from his cooking."

"Well, the first thing they'll teach you at the culinary arts institute is that your meal is only going to be as good as your ingredients. But if you get some ingredients to him he can work wonders."

"You know this much about everyone in your squadron?" She asks.

He smiles, "Michaels isn't in my squadron. I just know the people you want to make friends with in a base are the cooks, janitors, maintenance, and secretaries."

"Well, you've certainly proven the wisdom of your words," she says taking a bite, and closing her eyes about it, "This is delicious."

He watches her eat, a little too impressed by the nearly orgasmic face she's making.

"Sir, if you don't start eating I'm going to have to assume you're a vampire," she says.

"Well, since I don't see any mirrors to prove you wrong," he says, taking a bite. "Why did you join the Air Force?"

"My dad's a General," she says, as if that was all the explanation that was required.

"Oh, I didn't know I was getting involved with a General's daughter. That sounds like it could be pretty dangerous."

"Well, don't flee for your life before you're done with your steak," she advices, "He's in D.C., and it's not likely he could hurt you from there."

"Good to know," he says playfully.

-0-0-0-

When they finished eating, Jack walks over and starts a tape player. "Would you like to dance?"

Sam can't believe it. She tried for the whole four months that she was with Jonas Hanson to get him to take her dancing. With Jack, she didn't even have to ask.

She gives her hand to his, and is immediately held tightly and comfortably in his arms as he skillfully leads her around the dance floor. His scent engulfs her. It's different than she expected. When she gets crammed into a plane with men they smelled like military issued soap and the outdoors, if you were lucky. Most of the time, it just smelled like BO.

But Jack, he smelled like Jack, and it twisted her stomach.

And for the first time, since she was a child, she can feel herself completely relax. She's in a war zone, but she's never felt so peaceful.

He feels her muscles loosen under his hands. He wonders how long she's been tense for. He's also surprised, surprised by how good it feels to have someone rely on him, not in the impersonal way his men do in the field, but in this personal ways that this sweet smelling woman does in his arms.

She rests her head on his shoulder without even noticing that she is doing it. He just barely resists the temptation to nibble on her newly exposed neck.


	3. Part 1 Chapter 3

**Three Days Later**

Jack was cleared for active duty which decreased the amount of time that they had to spend together. Not that a decrease did them much harm, they spent every waking moment when they weren't working together. But Sam still found herself wishing that he wasn't allowed to work or that they would both bellowed to work the same times. That way they would have more time to spend with each other.

And now she's going to have to tell him that they are going to lose even more time. "I've got to call my brother. I do it once a week, and if I don't he is going to worry."

"Ok," he says. She take a few steps away, and is surprised to find him following her like a puppy dog.

"Jack," she says.

"I can walk you to the phone shack can't I?"

"Yeah," she says, leaning forward and giving him a brief kiss. The romance is still so new that it sends electricity through both bodies, and leaves them a little breathless, even though the kiss itself was pretty chase.

"O'Neill!" a voice calls.

"Hey, Charlie!" Jack replies smiling at the young Captain running toward him.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in days, and you missed a couple of poker games."

"I think I can be blamed for that," Sam says.

Charlie whistles at her, "Well, you do look like a pretty good excuse for blowing off his friends."

Jack puts a protective arm around her, because he doesn't like the way his best friend was looking at her.

She shakes his arm off, quite aware of what he's doing, "He's a pretty good reason for blowing off my friends too. Family, though, that's a different story. I'm going to go call my brother, you think you can keep Jack entertained?" she says.

"See you soon," Jack says slowly, releasing her hand from his only when it was arm's length away. Jack watches her walk away with a smile on his face.

"Wow, you've got it bad," Charlie whispers under his breath.

-0-0-0-

"Sam, you ok? I heard about a plane going down in your unit," Mark says.

"I'm fine Mark, I was actually involved in the rescue of people who went down in that plane."

"Yeah?"

"I actually wanted to talk to you about one of those men. We, ah… started dating."

Silence. She's not really surprised. Mark has never been a big fan of any of the people that she's dated.

"Is he enlisted?" Mark asks.

"No, Mark, I'm not risking my career here."

"Ok, well… it's just that most of the people in the Air Force are enlisted."

"He's a Lieutenant Colonel, in a different squadron."

"Holy crap, how old is he?" Mark asks.

"Mark, are you done being overprotective brother, yet?" she says with a laugh in her voice.

"I just… that Jonas guy was bad news, I told you that it was bad news."

"Jack is no Jonas," she assures him.

"Ok, well, tell me about this 'Jack'," Mark says.

"He's charming, but not like Jonas was. I guess what I find most charming about his… bashfulness. He's smart, but he pretends not to be. He's kind, but he doesn't like to get caught at it…"

"So what I'm getting is that he's a giant liar," Mark says, laughing.

"True, but in a good way."

"When are you coming home, Sammy?" Mark asks softly.

"I don't know yet," she says.

Mark is tired of waiting for people he loves to come back from war. He feels like he waited most of his childhood for his father to get back from war, and now he feels like he's spending all of his adulthood waiting for his sister to come back from war. "You're going to crash at my place when you come back right?"

"Yeah, if I'm still stationed there, I am."

"I miss you, Sam."

"You, too, Mark. How is the fiancée?" she prompts.

-0-0-0-

Sam runs back to where Jack, and Charlie were talking.

"So what did big brother say?" Jack asks.

"Well, he's actually my little brother, even though he acts like my big brother. Actually, sir, he implied that you are too old for me," she teases.

"He's right, of course," Charlie says.

"Don't you be giving her ideas, Charlie," Jack teases.

"Carter, how old are you? I bet we're closer in age," Charlie teases.

"Ah, but you're failing to take into account that women live much longer than men," Sam replies.

"She only likes me for my birth date," Jack teases, pointing to Sam with his thumb.

"It's actually the death date she's interested in," Charlie points out. "Look, I can already see you too have quickly become a package deal. And if I ever want to see my buddy again, I'm going to have to make friends with Carter here. Not that it's looking like a hard job. You mind if I go third wheel for some drinks?" He is looking at Sam.

"Sounds like fun," Sam says, grabbing onto Jack's hand. She knows that he's feeling a little bit insecure right now.

-0-0-0-

The trio is becoming more and more aware that they are causing a little bit of a raucous at the bar. More than once, a fit of hysterical laughter ends with the room staring at them.

"I think we should take this back to our tent, Jack," Kowalski says.

"Ah… those scalliwags that we room with go to bed early," Jack says. Sam raises her eyebrows at the use of the word 'scalliwags'.

"You know, I don't have any roommates," Sam says.

"Interesting," Charlie says, wagging his eyebrows at Jack.

"Shut up," Jack says with more than playful force to his voice. Sam likes the fact that he is defending her honor.

-0-0-0-

"Charlie's out," Jack says, prodding the man with his foot.

"He loses the drinking contest," Sam says, although they never actually started a drinking contest.

"I think we all lost the drinking contest," Jack says. "Charlie! Get up!" Jack says, kicking the sleeping man again. Charlie sits up, a bit, but then falls back down.

"Damn, I'm going to have to carry him back to quarters," Jack murmurs sitting up.

She puts a hand on his, "Stay."

"Stay?" he says with raised eyebrows.

She nods.

"We have company, Angel."

"I didn't mean it like that. I just mean that both of you can sleep off the booze."

"Sounds good," he says laying back.

She re-adjusts herself, even closer to him, completely ensconced in his arms. Safer than she's been since her mother died. If she closes her eyes, she can almost imagine that she lives in a world were nothing bad can ever happen.

"The name's Samantha," she whispers without warning. "Samantha Carter."

He doesn't say anything, so she pulls back so she can look at his face. He's asleep.

"Jack?" she asks, hoping the sleep is light enough that her voice alone can rouse him. It doesn't work. "Goodnight, Jack," she says right as she kisses his forehead.


	4. Part 1 Chapter 4

**Clarification: Jack knows Sam's LAST name, because he's seen it on her uniform. He also hears people call her Lieutenant Carter." But Carter is on the list of 100 most popular last names in America so without the first name he really doesn't know much.**

**Two Weeks Later**

Sam's hand reaches for Jack's during a dinner in the officer mess. It touches the pinky first. Three of her fingers skitter playfully over the pinky before advancing to new territory. He pulls away slowly, and the loss of contact makes her hover awkwardly a millimeter above his thigh where his hand was resting. He slides beneath that distance, and brings her hand higher, until it touches the metal of the table, then he pulls away and traces his finger along the lines of her hand.

His mother was an amateur fortune teller. She'd taught him to read palms when he was a small boy. Sam's lifeline is long and segmented. Her love line is short but deep.

She twists his hand quickly stopping the tickling teasing by grasping the hand firmly in hers. The fingers intertwine, and the palms touch one another.

She turns to him and gives him a quick smile although they are both pretending to listen to a man in Sam's platoon describe some football game that happened when he was in high school.

Jack reaches his free hand over his clasped arm to silently offer her his jello.

She shakes his head. He's always giving her stuff. He has to knock it off.

He grins, and stabs a hunk of mystery meat… or flux meat, more accurately, off her plate. She seems to accept the trade by the way she starts to eat the jello with her left hand while squeezing his with her right.

"And then aliens landed in the field and declared me king of Planet-X," the Airman finishes.

Sam nods her head politely, and Jack briefly wonders if he is making an appropriate 'good for you' face.

"Are you guys even listening?" the Airman says, exasperated.

"Naw, they can't hear anything over the music and the bird's chirping in their ears," Charlie says, sitting down next to them.

"What?" Sam asks in confusion.

Jack drops her hand, "I heard everything, you're a football star."

"That just proves you heard the first sentence," the Airman says with an eye role.

"Hey, look at her, you can't blame the man for having trouble focusing," Charlie says with a grin.

Sam's cheeks blush red, and she takes her last bite of the jello.

"Ready to go? I'll walk you to your tent," Jack says.

"Right, that's all you're be doing," the Airman says quietly.

Jack leans forward. "I **am** just walking her home, and if you tell anyone otherwise…" he lets he threat hang in the air, all the more terrifying for being unfinished, and then he stands up to walk her out.

When they hit the cool desert air, she grabs his hand again. She lets it swing between them for a couple beats before she says, "You know, you don't have to _just_ walk me to my tent."

She and Jack have been dating for several weeks, and he hasn't made any move besides kissing and holding hands. She's beginning to get insulted.

"Where were you stationed, back home?" he asks looking up at the stars.

She doesn't know why he is changing the topic, "Vandenberg Air Force Base."

"California," he says flatly.

Sam nods.

"See, I'm at Hurlburt Field, myself," he says.

"You're special ops?"

"California and Florida are a long way apart."

"I thought you were a pilot."

"That, too," he mutters.

"Ok, so what's with the geography lesson?" she asks.

He stops cold, "Sam, is this some wartime romance?"

"We don't know where we're going to be when we get back, Jack. We could be stationed near each other."

"Angel, do we have a future?" he asks abruptly.

"I don't know, that depends on whether you learn my name," she teases.

"No, it depends on whether one of us is willing to give up our careers, or if we're both willing to do a long range romance," he says fiercely.

"I'm willing to do long distance," she says, putting an arm on his forearm.

"Ok, then," he says, resuming walking and looking less sad.

"You're not going to return the sentiment?" she asks, knowing already that Jack is not the kind of person that shares his feelings with other people.

"I'll do you one better. There is one way we could get the Air force to station us together," he says.

At first her mind is blank. She has no idea what he means, and then suddenly, she realizes. Marriage. He's talking about marriage. She takes a sharp intake of breath, and stops.

He turns to her with a nervous grin. He knows he shouldn't have said that. That's the sort of thing a crazy possessive stalker would say.

She grins at him, "I want to be an astronaut."

He stares at her in surprise. He shouldn't be surprised, of course, after all, when you add astrophysics and piloting together, you couldn't come up with anything else besides 'astronaut'.

"I like Texas," he says.

She giggles, pulling him closer to her with his arm.

"I'm not supposed to feel like this, not this early," she whispers.

He grins, "It _is_ a crazy out-of-control wonderful feeling, isn't it?"

She nods. They have reached her tent.

He gives her a kiss, which makes all the excitement that has been flowing through her body form a tight coil in her stomach.

"'Night," he says.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asks playfully, tugging at his fatigues at his chest.

He hadn't planned to go into her tent. He really hadn't.

He takes a gentle step toward her, putting one of his legs between hers. It's not even touching her, except a little at one of her knees, but it feels incredibly sensual all the same. He stares into her eyes for a long time.

Long enough that she gets nervous and looks away with a giggle. "You're a national treasure, you know that?" he asks with a throaty voice.

"And you're my supernova," she whispers.

"Then analyze me already."

She wraps her arms around him, and starts to kiss him.

He sweeps her off her feet… literally. He takes a step back, and bends a bit so he can puts a hand under her knee to pull her into a fireman carry.

She screams. Then he tickles her under her knee, and then he giggles. He presses his lips against hers. "You're sure you want to do this, Angel?"

She nods her head wrapping her arms around her neck. He carries her into the tent.

-0-0-0-

Sam shakes her head, trying to get rid of the fly in her hair. The fly only goes deeper into her hair, though, and she opens her eyes in order to figure out what is happening. It's not a fly, it's Jack, and he's running his hand through her hair. No-one has ever touched her with such reverence.

"Hi," she whispers.

"'Morning," he says with a grin.

The memory of last night makes her grin. It was never like that when she was with Jonas. This was just… wow.

"I've only got a half hour," he whispers.

"I wish we could stay in bed all day," Sam mutters.

"Tell you what, the first time we have leave at the same time stateside, we'll do exactly that."

Sam giggles.

Jack runs his fingers through her hair slowly.

"But we can come back here, right when we're done working. There will be the real world, and then there will be the world that the two of us only have when we're off duty."

"I like that plan, all apart from one thing," Jack says.

"What's that?"

"This is the real world, us, that's it."

**Three Weeks Later**

Jack's been gone for two days. Sam knows that she shouldn't worry about this sort of thing. It happens. It especially happens when someone is in black ops. She lived through it once, and she can't believe that she got involved in another guy in black ops.

Sam is sitting outside looking at the stars, trying to think of a way to break up with him.

Suddenly he's next to her. She didn't hear him coming, and she jumps in surprise. She knows that she shouldn't be surprised though. Black ops.

"You ok?" she asks.

He takes her hand, and doesn't say a word. She turns toward him, looking at him. His face has that dismal look she's seen before. Her dad had it twice, and she never knew why, but Jonas had it all the time.

"I'm sorry," she mutters. She knows she should leave him alone. That he's going to get angry and snide, they always were.

"You know, I'm selfish. It's not even that I wish it wasn't done. It needed to be done. I just wish I wasn't the one who had to do it."

She squeezes his hand, understanding that he can't tell her what the 'it' is.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you before I left," he whispers, leaning her head toward her shoulder.

She takes him into her arms. He's black ops, that's true. But without even a hint of breaking the law,leaking national secrets he shared more with her than Jonas had in the whole five months they'd dated.

"You're cold, Jack, let's go into my tent, and get some blankets on you," she whispers.

"You're all the warmth I need, Angel."

And Sam once again marvels at the way this man can melt her heart with tired old lines.


	5. Part 1 Chapter 5

**Two Months Later**

"I got orders," she says, handing them to him.

"You're going back to California," he says softly after reading them.

She nods her head, "You don't have orders yet?"

He shakes his head.

"So, three days then," she whispers.

"I've never seen anyone so sad to be leaving a war zone before," he says.

She doesn't say a word, she just falls into his arms, crying.

"Angel, listen to me. This war is over. They've been shipping people out quickly. Pretty soon, they're going to ship me out. And then, when we're stateside we're going to call each other, and fly out to see each other. And then, before too long, we're going to get married, and they're going to station us at the same base, and we're going to have two children and a dog, and a white picket fence, and what was it, a yellow kitchen, right?"

She pulls away, her forehead wrinkled. Suddenly, he worries that his speech was too fast for her. They've only been dating for three months. Granted, it was a fast three months. He's been sleeping in her tent almost every night since the first time. Apart from the last few days, when she had a flu.

"Not a dog," she says.

"No?" he asks, bemused.

"I'm a cat person."

"Huh, and I thought it was love," he says.

She smacks him playfully.

"Maybe we'll get both," he offers.

"Yes, and they can match," she says cheerfully.

"What do you mean by 'match'?" he asks.

"You know, they're the same color. Like a calico cat with an orange colored dog. Or a black lab, and a black cat."

"Yep, matching pets," he offers with a smile.

"You just make sure to keep safe," she says.

"Yes, ma'am," he says following her into her tent.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I'm still sick," she protests.

"We've got three days left, Angel. I don't really care what I catch, I am going to spend every second of that time with you that I can.

**Three Days Later**

"My name is…" Sam begins, but Jack cuts her off by clasping a hand over her mouth.

"Jack! It was cute at first, but we're in love with one another. We're serious, it's time that you grow up and let me tell you what my name is."

"I will. The first time we see each other state side, I want you to hold up a sign that proclaims your name to me. I just don't want you to tell me right now."

"How are you going to find me?" she protest.

"Phone number. Give me your phone number, and you can have mine. You know my name, in case something goes wrong and you need to look me up," he says.

She takes a paper off her desk, and rips it in half. She hands him a pen, and the two of them write the numbers on the paper before they exchange it.

Sam glances at her watch, "Two more hours."

"I don't like the idea of you flying, you're still sick," Jack protests.

"It's just the flu, Jack."

"You threw up just this morning, and it has been kind of a long flu," he says, doing some math in his head – six days she's been sick, "Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine."

"But maybe you should go to the doctor just in case," he prompts.

"I'll go to one as soon as I'm stateside, but I'm sure it's nothing. I'm going to miss you, Jack," she says hugging him tight.

**One Week Later**

Sam can't believe what the doctor is telling her. "Pregnant, are you sure?"

"Quite sure, ma'am, you're at about five weeks right now. I'm going to have to alert your commanding officer, and put you on restricted duty," the doctor says.

"Of course, I just don't know how this happened. I was on the pill," Sam says.

The doctor looks at her chart. "You were on antibiotics about a month ago, correct?"

"Yeah, I got a little shrapnel from a distant explosion. No big deal, until it got infected."

"Antibiotics counteract the effect of fertility medicine," the doctor says.

Sam nods her head, and stands up from the table trying not to look too stunned.

Sam remembers, when she was a little kid, all the work that her mother did with wives of people who had husbands that were deployed. The ones who took it the hardest, the ones most likely to be in her living room, crying, when she came home from school, were the ones that were pregnant. Now she was like those women, exactly like those women, apart from the fact that she wasn't even married.

She puts a hand on her stomach, and suddenly her terror ebbs. This is Jack's baby. She and Jack were in love. The last time she saw him, he was talking about getting married and having two children, and getting matching pets.

This isn't the way that they'd wanted this to happen, it is all occurring in the wrong order, but there is a certain degree of rightness to it as well, and everything is going to be ok as soon as soon as Jack calls. He is still overseas, so she can't call him just yet.

God, she wants to hear his voice. Why hasn't he called her yet? He has her number, and access to phones. Maybe he's on a mission. Or maybe he's hurt, and laying in the infirmary and no one can contact her. It's not like she's his next of kin. If he gets hurt, even killed, there is a chance that no-one would ever tell her.

She closes her eyes. She's worried, worried about nothing. And that's not good for the baby. She has to take care of her baby right now.

-0-0-0-

"Hey!" Jack says enthusiastically on the phone.

But it's not the voice he'd been longing to hear in the three days since he'd left her. It's a male voice, "Ah…hi."

"I'm sorry, I must have the wrong number. I don't suppose Lieutenant Carter is there?"

"She's not in right now, can I take a message?"

Jack's heart clenches. There is a man, a man in Angels' house. Maybe this is the ex, and he doesn't want her back with him. But who else would she find in three days? It was eight in the morning, her time. Who would be in her apartment at seven o'clock unless he slept there?

"Ah, no message," he stammers. He wants to steal her from this man, but he knows that he's not going to. She made this choice, and if she wants to be with someone besides him, that's… predictable, really. It was pretty much par for the course.

"Who are you?" the voice on the other end of the phone asks.

"No one, just some guy she served with," Jack says before he hangs up.

**The Next Day**

"Jack, what the hell, if you don't get up soon you are going to be AWOL," Charlie says as he approaches Jack's cot.

Jack doesn't respond. Charlie walks around and sees that Jack's eyes are wet with tears, and that he's curled up in the fetal position. "What happened man?"

"Carter," Jack moans.

"She just went stateside, call her if you miss her so bad," Charlie says laughing.

"No, she went stateside, and moved in with a guy," Jack says.

"No way, man! I saw the way that she fawned over you! You guys were inseparable, it's only been a couple days since then. No way she moved on that fast."

"I think it was her ex," Jack says.

"No, Jack, there is no way. You must have misunderstood something," Charlie said.

"I can't… live without her," Jack mutters.

"Jack?" Charlie says with concern.

"Find me a dangerous mission. A really dumbass, dangerous mission. Until then… I don't see any reason to get up."

"You wanna die, Jack?" Charlie asks, making eye contact with his friend. Jack doesn't respond. Charlie's stomach drops out from inside him.

-0-0-0-

"Sammy, are you ok in there?" Mark asks as he hears the sound of someone getting sick in the bathroom.

Sam leans against the wall of the bathroom for a second. She knows it's time she tells her brother. "I'll be out in a second, and then I'll explain."

Mark is sitting on the couch looking terrified when she walks into the living room. Sam sits down on the other end of the couch, and folds her legs up under her. "This is something they did to you in the Gulf, isn't it?"

"No, this is definitely not something you can blame the military for. I'm pregnant," she says.

"This is why you got sent back?" Mark asks.

"No, and they would have before too long anyway. But I didn't know until I got stateside," she says.

"And Jack, does he know?"

"I haven't had a chance to talk to him since," she whispers.

"What do you mean? He knew you well enough to make a baby with you, but somehow he can't bother to call in you in the week you've been back?" Mark says angrily.

"Sometimes in a war zone you don't always get a chance to make a phone call," she defends someone that she isn't so sure deserves defending.

"You managed to call me every week," Mark points out.

"I know, but I wasn't black ops."

"You're dating another one in black ops?" Mark says.

She nods. "He's going to call."

"Why don't you call him? I'm sure that he would want to know that he is going to be a father as soon as possible."

"I have his number stateside. It isn't working right now, but that's probably just because he isn't stateside," Sam says.

"You know, Sammy, I'm here for you, whatever you need," Mark says softly, giving her a little smile.

"Thanks, but I am probably going to get stationed somewhere else. This baby has me on medical light duty. And with my current job, I don't really have a whole lot of things that I can do on light duty. I'm being reassigned, but I don't know where."

"They can't do that! You need your family right now!" Mark says.

"I'm going to be fine, and I'll still have family. A long distance brother is going to be a big help," she says with a sad smile.

"Are you going to tell Dad?" Mark asks.

"I suppose I am going to have to do that before too long. But… I'm probably going to put that off as long as I can."

"I can understand that," Mark says with sympathy.

-0-0-0-

Charlie holds the number that Jack gave him in his hand. He wants to kill her. That slimy girl that's got his best friend on suicide watch. He dials the number, and indeed a male voice answers the phone.

"Is Samantha Carter there?" Charlie asks, because he did actually learn the girl's name.

"Sorry, she's moved," the male voice says.

"What? Where?" Charlie asks.

"I'm sorry, who is this?"

"I'm just someone that she served with," Charlie says.

"Well, there seems to be a lot of that going around."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I just mean there have been several people calling Sammy, saying they were just people who served with her," Mark says his voice contains a trace of insinuation that he didn't mean to put there.

"Oh," Charlie says, because he can't think of anything else to say. So it had been a show. So there were others. They must have been before Jack, because they sure as heck didn't have time for another one while she was with him.

"Well, Sammy's been stationed elsewhere," Mark proclaims.

"Right, sorry to bother you," Charlie says. Jack was right. Sam wasn't who he thought they were.

Charlie has to make sure that Jack never finds out the truth. He might not survive the truth.

**One Week Later**

"Jack, how are you feeling?" Charlie asks tentatively as he enters the hospital room. He isn't quite sure what you're supposed to say to someone being treated for mental health issues, particularly one that you tattled on.

"What the hell, Charlie?" Jack says with his arms crossed.

"Jack, the way you were talking…" Charlie says softly, beginning to wonder if he wasn't wrong.

"Charlie, you've got to get me out of here… tell them you were wrong."

"Was I?" Charlie asks meeting his friend's eyes.

Jack looks away.

"Jack, there will be a life after Carter."

Jack focuses on him again, and Charlie can see that he doesn't believe it.


	6. End of Part 1

**Two Weeks Later**

"Sammy!" Jacob Carter says as he envelops his daughter into a hug.

"Hey, Dad, thanks for letting me stay with you while I find a place to stay," she says, hugging her father back a little awkwardly.

"You know you could stay with me as long as you are stationed in D.C.," he says with a hopeful smile.

"I'm a little old to be living with my dad, I think," Sam says.

Jacob shakes his head.

"Well, a crying baby might keep you up at night," Sam blurts. It wasn't the way she had planned on telling her father about her pregnancy. Well, to be perfectly honest, she'd never had a plan on how to tell her father about her pregnancy. She had spent a lot of time trying to come up with a plan to tell him, but she had never actually succeeded.

"What?" Jack asks, really hoping that he didn't hear what he thought he heard.

"You knew I am on light duty, didn't you," Sam says.

"I didn't know it was medical," Jacob says.

"Yeah," Sam says biting her lip.

"This is… you got pregnant during the war, then?" her father says with disapproval.

She nods her head.

"Who is the father?

"He is an officer, in another squadron," Sam says looking down.

"Oh, Sam, I'm so sorry," her father says softly.

For a few seconds she's confused. Then she realizes, "Oh no, he's not dead."

"Then…" her father prompts.

"I've tried to call him. I've called him a lot. And he has my number, but… nothing," she says.

"And then I'm sorry again," her father says, "What is his name?"

"Dad, I don't want you to put a whole bunch of effort into searching for someone who doesn't want to be found."

"Sammy, I am going to need the name of my grandbaby's father," he says firmly.

"Jonathan O'Neill," she says.

She can't understand the change in her father's face as the words enter his brain. "Lieutenant Colonel Jack O'Neil?"

"You know him?" she asks.

"Sammy, I've worked with the man for years, he's old enough to be your father! What are you doing with him?" Jacob says in a voice that is a low roar.

"He's not that much older than me," Sam protests.

"Really, what's the age difference?"

Sam looks at her father in horror, for the first time realizing that she doesn't actually know how old the father of her baby is… exactly.

"Sam, what exactly do you know about this man?"

"Not enough, obviously," Sam says.

"Look, Jack comes up to Washington D.C. once a month on business. He'll be here next week, I can invite him over to the house," Jacob says softly. He's angry, but most of that anger isn't at his daughter. It's at the friend who betrayed him. Jack O'Neil is going to pay for hurting his daughter, of that he can be sure.

"I don't think it's right to just blindside him like that," Sam says.

"Would you rather just get his number?"

"He's back?" she asks. Even after all the things that her father has implied about this man, even now that she knows he's back and hasn't called her, somehow she still thinks that he's going to be excited. She was with him for months. She knew him. And she can imagine him walking into her father's house, and seeing her. He'd throw his arms around her, and everything would be ok.

"He's been back awhile, sweetheart," her father says softly.

"Yeah, you can invite him over," she says with a slow smile.

"Sammy, you know… it's going to be ok. I'm going to be here for you… and the kid," Jacob says. And he's suddenly the father that she knew when she was a small child. He's the father who used to read her bedtime stories and scare away the monsters under her bed. He's the father who used to sit and hold hands with her mother, whispering in her ear when the family watched TV together. It's a side of her father that she hasn't seen very often since he became a general, and three months later her mother died.

"I bet you didn't plan on becoming a grandfather quite yet," Sam says softly, picking up her bag.

He takes it from her. She would usually resist such an obvious show of male chauvinism, but she knows that carrying things is actually bad for the baby, so she yields the bag.

"No, I didn't quite plan on it. But both of my kids were surprises as well, and that turned out pretty well."

-0-0-0-

"You're leaving the Air Force?" Charlie says softly.

"They won't clear me for activity duty, and it's time to re-sign. Why would I re-sign to fly a desk stateside? That's where they're heading me, Charlie."

"You could get better Jack, and then you could be put back in activity duty."

"Not likely, you need a clean bill of mental health in order to be given any real work," Jack says bitterly.

Charlie's stomach twists with guilt, "I'm sorry, I ruined your career. I didn't mean to."

"It wasn't you that ruined it. It was me. Moaning over a stupid girl, like an idiot," Jack mutters.

"Jack, I have to ask you… are you still…?" Charlie asks, shifting under the awkwardness of the question.

"No, I don't have any intention to harm myself. She's not worth it," Jack says. Charlie detects a deep sadness in Jack's eyes. He may no longer have thoughts of killing himself, but he is also nowhere close to being over Samantha Carter.

**One Week Later**

"Hey, Sam, come on down stairs!" Jacob calls up the stairs. Sam takes one last look in the mirror before she runs downstairs. She freezes on the stairs. Jack should be here by now. But the man standing there talking to her father is not Jack.

"Ah… hi," she says awkwardly.

Jacob looks between the two people, and can't understand the coldness in their air. It's like they've never met.

"Sam, this is Jack O'Neill," he says.

Sam pauses on the step, "No, it isn't." Is this some sort of joke? Is her dad planning a joke with her concerning the father of her baby? Really?

"I assure you ma'am, I do know my own name," the man replies.

Now Sam can see why her father was so surprised to find out Jack was the father. This man, with no sense of humor and thirty years on her, was definitely not her type. "Ok, well, this was not the Jack O'Neill I'm having a baby with," she says.

"I certainly am not!" the man says taking a step back in horror.

"I'm sorry about my daughter," Jacob says glaring at her on the staircase.

"There must be another Jack O'Neil. It's not like it is the most uncommon name in the world," she says.

"Excuse me," Jacob says to O'Neil, before he leads his daughter in the kitchen. "I was really hoping that I was wrong," he mutters.

"Wrong about what?" Sam asks.

"Sam, he gave you a phone number that didn't work. What makes you think that he didn't give you a fake name?" Jacob asks softly.

"No, dad, it's not like that. You just don't know him. If you knew him, really knew him, you'd never say that. I just need to find him. You can do a search for Jack O'Neills, right?"

"It's a really common name," her father says softly.

"Right, but there can't be that many in the Air Force," she begins.

"I'll look into it, Sammy," he says, trying to calm her down.

-0-0-0-

Jack's cabin had always been his refuge. A safe place that he could go to escape any problems in the world. It was a perfect place to go post-Angel.

That's right, his life is divided into pre- and post-, with a different man on each side of the Gulf.

He fidgets with a ring.

That's right, he was stupid enough to buy the woman a ring. He'd described exactly what he wanted to a friend stateside, and he'd bought it for him. Jack was about to have it shipped to him with a crazy amount of insurance on it, and then he'd found out that she was going back to the states. So he'd told his friend to hold onto it. He figured he could give it to her the first time that they saw each other stateside.

His answering machine had been blank when he came up here. Not that he really expected her to call. How would she have time when she was living with… him? But it still would have been nice. It would have been nice if she'd try to lie to him, and convince him she had really been in love with him. Maybe he even would have pretended to believe her. After all, a little of Angel was better than a whole lot of another girl.

He takes one last look at the shimmering engagement ring before he chucks it into the lake. It's stupid, that ring was worth a lot of money, and that's going to be pretty tight now that he doesn't exactly have a job.

He'll survive. He'd decided that he was going to survive, although he wasn't quite sure why.

**A Few Days Later**

"Sammy," Jacob says, sitting down next to his daughter on the porch. Her new boss is a very 'by the books' guy. The regulations say that pregnant women aren't allowed to work overtime, and since she moved to Washington she hasn't worked overtime. Her boss had stopped her trying to leave with work more than once. So Sam, for the first time in her life, is being forced to relax.

"Hey," she says, taking a sip of the herbal tea she's begun drinking in order to kick her caffeine habit.

"So I looked up Jack O'Neill today," her father says softly.

"And?" she asks hopefully, but she knows the answer as soon as she looks at her father's eyes. "Did you try 'Jonathan'? Jack is a nickname for Jonathan."

"I know that, Sam," her father says softly.

"Of course you do. But maybe there is a different spelling or…" she begins.

He puts a hand on her arm, "Sam, I tried everything, there is no one by the name of Jack O'Neill in the Air Force except for that man that you met the other night."

Sam nods her head slowly. "I tried his number three times today… nothing. It's never going to work."

"No, it isn't, sweetie. I'm so sorry. Have you thought about… what are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to raise my baby," she says, putting a protective hand over her stomach, "And someday, when it's old enough, I'll tell it that its father was an asshole."

Jacob chuckles pulling his daughter into a hug.

Sam wonders how she could have been so off. So wrong. She was so sure that she knew the man she'd spend three months with in war zone. She was so sure that she loved him. If she could be wrong about that, then she could be wrong about anything.


	7. Part 2 Chapter 1

**Authors Note: Stargate SG-1 says that the events of the movie and the events of the TV show are one year apart. Now in reality, the TV show and the movie were three years apart. Most people take care of this difference by going with the dates of the TV show, and then giving the date from the movie as one year before that. I decided to go with the opposite approach, because both make an equal amount of sense. Actually, this way makes a little bit MORE sense, because it's plausible that a TV show made in 1997 could be set in 1995. However, it would be pretty hard for a movie to be set in 1996 when it was made in 1994. Unless there is time travel involved, but we are taking about SG-1, so time travel is fair game. Anyway, this timeline worked better for me, because it brought the whole stargate story a bit closer to the Gulf War in which Part 1 occurred. So, in my timeline Abydos happens in 1994, and season 1 of SG-1 happens in 1995 with all of the seasons following after.**

**Part 2: 1995, Colorado Springs**

The Air force was a small world after all, Samantha Carter through grimly to herself. Jack O'Neill, her father's friend that she'd humiliated herself in front of years ago by proclaiming that he WASN'T the man who impregnated her in the middle of a desert, was her new boss. It was bad enough that she'd had to read that stupid name on the Abydonian mission report

At least George was in charge of the operation. He was a good man. Another of her father's old friends, actually, the Air Force being small and all. When she'd first found out about her new post she'd been furious. She was sure that her father was involved. He wasn't; she knew that as soon as she found out the Stargate was involved. Her father had been none too happy when she'd gone back to being a pilot a year ago. She hadn't done any dangerous work since she found out she was going to have a baby. She hadn't wasted the years of course, she'd studied nanotechnology at the pentagon for the first one, and the Stargate for the second one.

But when she was offered a job flying planes again, she'd taken it. She was a pilot after all.

She was furious about being pulled from behind the cockpit, right up until she found out what her new assignment actually was. She was going to go through the Stargate. That silent piece of metal that she'd studied for a year. It had been declared useless, because Jack O'Neill had lied. They had that in common, those Jack O'Neills, even the ones that didn't really have that name.

Then she hears George's voice saying her name.

That name 'Carter' stabs Jack's heart fiercely. Someone with that surname shattered his heart a long time ago. She was the reason he went on that suicide mission through the Stargate last year.

In the hallway Sam hears "I'd prefer to put together my own team, sir." The voice is familiar, really familiar. It makes her heart ache with longing, but she can't remember why.

"Not on this mission, sorry. Carter's our expert on the Stargate," George says. Sam smiles. She is that.

Jack mentally scolds himself, he shouldn't be blaming some guy just because he happens to have her name. "Where's he transferring form?" he asks looking up at the General.

Sam in the hallway takes this as her hint. She saunters into the room and says, "She is transferring from the Pentagon." Then she stops cold. It's him. HER Jack O'Neill.

He stares at her in equal horror.

"You really are Jack O'Neill," she says in shock.

"Of course, I am," he says looking away from her.

"No, there was only one Jack O'Niell in the Air Force, and he wasn't you," she says.

"Sir, I feel obligated to inform you that there is a personal problem with these two, and she can't be on our team," Charlie says, standing up to defend his best friend.

"_I _can't be on the team! What about _him_?" Sam protests.

General Hammond stands up, and uses his very best, 'shut up or die' voice, "I don't care what soap opera episode you people are re-enacting right now. I choose who are on the teams, and you are both on the team. Let's get started. Colonel?"

Sam sits down, George hasn't yelled at her since she was six, and she and Mark finger painted on his wall. Sam mentally kicks herself. She really needs to start thinking of him as General Hammond. And Jack, the man she shared a heart with for three brief months, she has to start thinking of as Colonel O'Neill, because apparently they gave the jerk a promotion.

"Thank you," Jack says carefully, watching as Sam smooths the skirt of her class A's beneath her as she sits. She's as beautiful as he remembers her being. Maybe even more so. Her hair is different, shorter, lighter. She's a touch heavier, but it's all muscle. It would be harder to pin her in their playful wrestling. Then he remembers, that's never going to happen anymore, and the pain is fresh again. "Those of you on your first trip through the 'gate, you should be prepared for what to expect."

He's exactly the same as he was four years ago. She can remember everything about him, from his scent to the way his fingers traced through her hair. And for a moment she forgot the other things…the way her heart shattered into a thousand pieces, and the late night feedings she had with her son all alone. She interrupts him, "I've practically memorized your report from the first mission. I'd like to think I've been preparing for this my whole life."

Charlie interrupts in defense of his friend, "I think what the Colonel is saying is, have you ever pulled out of a simulated bombing run in an F-16 at 8-plus G's?"

Sam meets Charlie's eyes, "Yes."

"Well, it's way worse than that," Ferreti says.

O'Neill's voice sounds strange, strained. He doesn't want to get into a contest with her proving how good she is. He knows she's good. But he feels like he does have to prepare her for what is about to come, "By the time you get to the other side, you're frozen stiff, like you've just been through a blizzard, naked."

The scientific part of her brain kicks in to protect the more emotional parts, "That's a result of the compression your molecules undergo during the millisecond required for reconstitution."

"Right, I'd almost forgotten you were a scientist," Jack mutters. It's a lie. He hasn't forgotten a single thing about her.

"Theoretical astrophysicist," Sam says just because she feels the need to correct anything that Jack says right now.

"She is way smarter than you are, Colonel. Especially in matters related to the Stargate," General Hammond interrupts. Charlie, and another man that Sam doesn't know start to giggle. A glare from Jack causes them to stop.

"Colonel, I was studying the 'gate technology for two years before Daniel Jackson made it work and before you both went through. I should have gone through then. But, sir, you and your men might as well accept the fact that I am going through this time."

"Captain Carter's assignment to this unit is not an option, it's an order," General Hammond says in his scary voice.

"Colonel, I saved your ass in the Gulf, after you crashed a plane. Is that tough enough for you? Or are we going to have to arm wrestle?" If he hasn't broken her heart, she never would have said that he crashed the plane.

And then Samuels interrupts, talking about how they shouldn't even do anything with the Stargate. The personal tension in the room fails to dissipate.

As soon as the meeting is over, Sam rushes out of the room. She hated putting her son in day care, but her dad wouldn't be in Colorado Springs until Sunday.

"Carter, wait up," Jack calls as he runs after her down the hallway.

"Well, you finally learned my name," she snarls.

"I actually always knew that part; it was the Samantha that was a surprise."

"I don't really want to talk to you," she informs him flatly.

"Well, I don't really want to talk to you either, but I think we have to get our personal issues sorted out before our lives depend on one another," he says.

"Don't worry, Sir, I'll save you ass in the field again if necessary," she says pushing the button for the elevator.

And he finds that he doesn't have the strength to follow her into it.

-0-0-0-

Hours later, and he's found the strength. He walks deliberately up the sidewalk, and knocks on the door.

A little boy, barely above the age of a toddler answers. "Hi! Welcome to Colorado!"

"I'm sorry, I must have the wrong house," he says confused.

And then Sam comes around the corner. "Tyler*, you cannot answer the door unless you know who it is."

"Carter," Jack says stunned.

"You were getting the pizza outa the oven," the child protests, "I'll get it!"

"You're going to burn yourself!" Sam protests running after him.

Jack follows pushing the pizza farther out of the boy's reach. Tyler grabs a pizza cutter out of the drawer, and hands it into Jack. Jack deliberately slices the pizza as Tyler pulls a chair across the room in order to pull a plate out of the cupboard.

"How old are you Ty?" Jack asks.

"You say my name wrong, and I'm three," the kids responds.

"I don't say it wrong. It's a nickname. My name is a nickname too. So is your mother's actually." Jack informs him as he takes the plate from the boy. Jack skillfully uses the pizza cutter as a spatula. His bachelor life has given him a lot of practice with frozen pizza.

"I went to my first day of daycare today," Tyler announces.

Sam is about to take the plate away from Jack. He probably doesn't know how to feed pizza to her son. But as she reaches for it Jack takes the pizza cutter and divides the pizza into choke prof bite sized pieces. "Did you like it?" Jack asks.

"Mommy was nervous, but I made a new friend. Her name is Emma. I wanted to play astronaut, but she said we had to play house. I was 'posed to be the Daddy, but I didn't know how, 'cause I don't have one," Ty says losing his train of thought in an attempt to grab the pizza.

Jack touches his finger to it. "It's too hot," he cautions.

"I want pizza," the three year olds brain says short circuiting at the start of a tantrum.

Jack opens the freezer and puts the plate of cut pizza on it. "Hey buddy, tell me what happened, next with Emma," he prompts by way of distraction.

"She told me how to be a dad. You sit on the couch and yell," Ty says reaching up toward the freezer.

Jack flinches at his son's first lesson in fatherhood.

"Not all dads are like that, Kiddo. Grandpa is my dad," Sam says softly.

"Really? You can be a Grandpa AND a dad?" Ty asks in fascination.

Jack stifles a laugh. "Being a father is pretty much a prerequisite for being a grandpa." Jack grabs the pizza out of the freezer and touches it. "Safe for Ty consumption," Jack says handing it to the boy.

"Sweetie, why don't you go eat that in the living room in front of the TV?" Sam asks.

"'Cause dinner time is family time, it's a rule," Tyler explains.

"That's true, but we'll make an exception," Sam says smiling.

Tyler runs off. "Stay off the couch, though."

"He's amazing," Jack says genuinely awed by the child.

"What did you come here for, Jack? Because you certainly didn't come here to cut up Tyler's pizza."

"Well, I might have come just for that, if I knew he existed."

"And whose fault is that?" Sam asks bitterly.

"Probably the person who knew he existed for the past three years," Jack says with equal venom.

"Oh, I thought it was the bastard who gave me a fake number after practically proposing!" Sam says with the sting of a shout, but the volume of a whisper.

"I did not give you a fake number."

"But you did," she says firmly.

"No I didn't."

"Don't you think I tried to call it?" she asks.

"Don't you think I know my own phone number, God, Ty probably knows his own number, or his old one, anyway."

"This number has been disconnected or is no longer in service," she quotes.

"No, that's my cabin number. I lived there…with a working phone up until last week, besides the Abydos mission, and I checked my messages. What number did you dial?"

"555-2374."

"No, 555-2314," Jack corrects.

"I've been reading numbers for years, Jack, it was a 7."

"You have got to be kidding me! My life is destroyed because of my shitty handwriting. Somewhere my second grade teacher is saying I told you so." He grabs a napkin, and writes a number on it, "This is how I write a 1."

"I don't understand. After the war my dad looked for you…the only Jack O'Neill that was in the Air force wasn't you."

"Yeah, well, I quit the Air Force by then."

"Why?" she asks confused.

"How sure are you that he's mine?" Jack asks abruptly.

"What?"

"Come on Carter, you have a doctorate, and that wasn't even a complex sentence."

"Well then, Jack, here is your answer. Considering I've only had sex with two people, and one of them was 9 months before my son's birth, and the other was three years, yeah, I'm pretty damn sure he's yours."

He laughs.

"And EXACTLY what about that is funny?" she demands.

"Sam, I talked to him. The guy you were with right after the war. He was in your apartment at eight in the morning."

"Mark," she says glaring at him.

"Mark," Jack repeats in shock, "You're brother, Mark?" He falls on a chair.

Sam's eyes tear up, "You thought…days after I was with you…you thought I could be with someone else?"

"Oh God Sam, if I'd talked to him. If I'd left you a message, we would have…been together. Ty would have a dad," Jack says.

"You…left the Air Force because…" she can't quite finish that sentence.

He swallows hard. "It was either not re-enlist or get a medical discharge," Jack mutters.

"For depression?" she guesses.

He just looks at her, his eyes haunting her. She runs her hand across her face, "We destroyed one another."

"And it was all a misunderstanding," He says. He puts his hand over hers, and holds it to his cheek.

"Jack, it's been four years," she whispers.

"Four wasted years," he agrees looking in her eyes.

She takes a step back. She loved him once, but she doesn't know if she can survive another bout of passion like that.

"Right, four long years," he says standing up, "So how is this going to work? Can I start spending time with him?"

She nods, and starts to sob, "Jack…if only…"

Jack starts moving toward Sam intending to take her into his arms. As he moves forward he feels a hard swat in his back, "You're a bad man, you made my Mommy cry."

Jack turns to his son, "You're right, I did. And that was wrong, but it was an accident, and I'm going to try really hard never to do it again."

"And we don't hit, ever," Sam says, "Especially not family…or friends."

"Hey buddy, do you like baseball?"

"Yeah," Tyler says heading for the back door.

"Hey, finish your dinner first," Sam warns, "You leave it on the floor and Schrodinger is going to get it."

"Schrodinger?" Jack asks with a raised brow.

"The cat," Sam says.

"How easy would it be to match to a dog?" Jack responds with a grin.

"Hey, you're my new friend, but I don't know what your name is," Ty says to Jack.

Jack opens his mouth to answer with, "Dad," but Sam breaks in with, "Jack."

"Jack?" Jack says looking at her sadly.

"What did you want me to call you, your nickname?" Ty asks.

"Jack is his nickname. He might have wanted you to call him 'Colonel', but it would be too formal for a four year old, don't you think?"

"Yeah, Jack," Jack says slowly.

"You finish up, and then you can do something…not baseball, he doesn't have a ball," Sam explains.

"I've got one in my car," Jack explains.

Tyler retreats back into the living room. "So, you don't want him to know I'm his dad?" Jack asks softly.

"Not forever, just…I get that it's not your fault. That you didn't leave. But I don't really know you, Jack. We had three months, three crazy months together in a war zone. I'm not going to give my son a father to just see him lose him."

"So I've got to earn the title of Dad? I can live with that," Jack says.

"I've missed you," Sam says looking at him.

"I missed you too, and I'm so sorry you've had to do this alone. I swear to you, Carter, if I'd known…."

"Let's just look forward, Jack," she mutters.

"Mommy! Schrodinger sat on my pizza!" Ty complains from the other room.

"You should have got a dog, Carter," Jack declares with a bemused grin.

***In honor of Jack's son in the movie.**


	8. Part 2 Chapter 2

**The Next Day**

"Sir, I need to talk to you about Captain Carter," Jack says as he enters General Hammond's office early the next morning.

"Colonel," General Hammond says using the voice that makes his stomach shake, "I don't care what is going on between the two of you, but you are going to have to get this solved before you go through the gate."

"General, I think you are misunderstanding. I'm not here because Carter and I can't get along. I'm here because we got along a bit too well."

"Excuse me?" The General booms. For a second he looks a little bit like an overprotective father, and Jack remembers with a pang of fear that Carter's dad really is a General in the Air Force. One who is no doubt just as intimidating as the General who is currently in front of them, and probably thinks he's a deadbeat dad.

"Sir, I knew Sam back in the Gulf. You are aware that Carter as a son?" he asks looking at the General.

The Generals eyes go large, "You're telling me you're Tyler's dad?"

Jack nods.

The General stands up to his full height, which isn't actually that tall, but which is still capable of intimidating. "You're the lowlife that abandoned Sam when she was pregnant in a war zone? You've got to have twenty years on her for God's sake."

"That's not…how it happened. I tried to get into contact with her after the war, and I never knew she was pregnant." Suddenly a memory that seemed unimportant at the time comes back to him, "I should have known though, she was sick right before she got orders. We thought it was the flu, but now I know it was morning sickness."

"So you're alerting me that Sammy and you are planning on breaking frat rules?" the General says.

"Yeah, I suppose having a kid together is breaking the frat rules just a bit, Sir. That certainly qualifies as a relationship that might prejudge good order and discipline. But that's not why I want a transfer out of being her commanding officer. What I was asking was a bit more practical: child care."

The General looks at him critically. "Child care? Sam doesn't let anyone watch that kid when she's not around. Well, at least not anyone but Jacob."

"Jacob?" Jack says, his stomach twisting in the fear that Sam might have been lying. Maybe there really have been others.

"Her father," the General says glaring at him.

"I was with Ty for hours last night," Jack protests.

"Right, but she didn't actually let you get out of her sight with him did she?" the General presses.

"I hadn't noticed," Jack says slowly, bothered by this new information.

"Right, well don't feel bad, it's everyone."

"Ty said he went to day care," Jack says, stunned.

"Wow, Sammy must really want to get through the gate," the Generals says in awe. "Look, I'm going to tell you that making a decision about child care without actually talking to the mother of your kid is pretty dumb. I'm denying your request, because you are the only person who has led a team through the Stargate; you're too important."

"I'm not that important, and you said that Carter is an expert on the Stargate. Why not give her the command?" he asks.

"Because she's a Captain, and doesn't have the experience. She's been in charge of a dozen guys in her aircraft in the Gulf. She's kept ten scientists and as many civilians in line for a couple of years. She's never done ground operations, Jack. She's never been responsible for a dying man, never held him in her hands."

"No, she hasn't held dying men, because she was damn good at preventing them from dying. I can attest to that. And I can also attest that she sits by people when they are in the hospital, makes sure they are all right. That goes a long way in my book," he says.

"She's not ready."

"What about Charlie then?" he asks softly.

"Jack, I'll keep this in mind. If I ever get a chance to give you both jobs that make sense for you I will."

"Thank you, Sir," he says standing up.

He's almost to the door when the General's voice calls him back, "Congratulations, Daddy."

"Thanks, sir," Jack says with a smile.

-0-0-0-

Sam wakes up with a start, sitting straight up in her bed with pure panic. She runs into her son's room, and draws an arm out of the blanket. She feels it carefully. It's fine, whole.

She scoots her baby over in bed, and wraps her arms around him. "I'm sorry baby boy. I'm so sorry," she says gently kissing his forehead.

**The Next Day**

"Mommy, did you sleep in my bed again last night?" Tyler asks as he runs a hand over her face to wake her up.

"Yeah baby, you had a nightmare again," she tells him.

Tyler is only three years old, but he's already figured out that he's not the one with nightmares. "I'm fine mommy," he tells her wrapping is chubby baby arms around her.

"I know you are honey, you are fine."

-0-0-0-

"Mom," Jack says on the phone.

"Hey, babe, I heard you got called onto active duty again. Where are you stationed?"

"I'm in Colorado," he says trying to interrupt his mother with the real purpose of the call.

"What are you doing?" his mother asks.

"I can't tell you that mom, but listen there is something I can tell you…ah…you can stop bugging me for grandkids."

There is a moment of silence, but when it ends it really ends, "You're telling me that you got some girl pregnant? Who is she? How come you've never talked about her? How serious is it? Are you getting married? When is she due?"

"Ah…about three years ago," he says, only managing to answer the last question.

"You've had a kid for three years, and you couldn't be bothered to tell your mother. Do you even understand how much you've made me miss?"

"Mom, I didn't know until yesterday. I met her back in the Gulf, mom. I never knew she was pregnant, and I ran into her again. And I met him. His name is Tyler Carter. He's a really great kid. He's got his mother's blond hair and my eyes. Your sense of humor, and the O'Neill sense of justice. Carter was crying when we were talking in the living room, and he tried to beat me up for making his mom cry."

"You call this girl by her last name? Why did you break-up?"

"Ah…right now I'm her boss, and we never really broke up."

"Yet you haven't seen her in four years," his mother says.

"Yeah, there was a misunderstanding, we couldn't find each other after the war."

"My god, Jack, is she the one that destroyed you?" his mother asks in a soft voice.

"No one destroyed me," Jack says, annoyed.

"Don't give me that. I saw you after the Gulf War. And at first, that's what I thought it was…the war. Post-Traumatic stress or something. I'm surprised that it hadn't happened before. All the wars you went through. But none of the wars, none of them destroyed you like her. And I knew…it was some her," his perceptive mother says.

"Yeah it was her," Jack admits.

"So how open is she to your involvement? Can I meet him?"

"I don't know mom, this is pretty new. I…really only spent one day with the kid. She wants him to call me 'Jack' for now. But I'll ask for you."

"God Jack, you're a father," she whispers.

"I am," he says, and he can't help a grin that's spreading across his face.

-0-0-0-

"Hey, Carter?" he says with a grin when she opens the door. "Is it ok if I come again? I know I was just here yesterday, but…"

"Jack!" Ty says wrapping himself around his legs.

"Hey little man," Jack says picking him up.

"Grandpa's coming tomorrow. Mommy is going on a trip that dat. I wanta come with, like when we went from home to new home. But Mommy says she's going to start going places that I can't go.

"Your mother's right," he says.

"Nuf' air," he mutters. Jack knows he's trying to say no fair, but it comes out all run together. And with the way he's quickly moving toward a tantrum, something that sounds like 'enough air,' is actually pretty fitting.

"The cool thing about her new job is that your mother is going to have whole days off, and she can spend them with you, doing all kinds of fun things," Jack says.

"You too, Jack?" the kid asks hopefully. Jack loves the way that little kids get attached so fast.

"I'm not really sure, maybe different things at different times," Jack says.

"Of course you are. You're on the same team as me," Sam protests.

"Ah…I talked to the General about finding a job were our days on and off would be closer to opposite. He said no for now," Jack says looking in her eyes.

She's pissed, the General is right, he never should have done this without asking her first. "Why don't you want to work with me?" she demands.

"Maybe, we should finish this…somewhere else," he says glancing at the kid in his arms.

Sam nods her head, and Jack puts him down. Sam pulls a coloring book and some crayons off a high shelf, and hands them to her son. "Jack, and I are going to go into the kitchen. You come in if you need anything, bud, ok?"

The kids nods, "But don't make Mommy cry again," he says giving Jack a glare.

"I'll try not to," Jack promises. He puts his hand on the small of her back as the two of them walk into the kitchen. She flinches under the contact, and he pulls his hand away quickly.

"I want to work with you, but I'm not sure it's appropriate…" Jack begins.

"So you just assumed that we were going to be together without even asking me?" she asks with venom.

"I didn't know if we were going to be involved. But we have a kid together, and that's a strong bond. It doesn't have to be a romantic relationship in order to be breaking the frat rules. And I was thinking that I could take care of him when you were going through the stargate. I know that having someone you trust to watch him is really important to you."

"And what makes you think that I could trust you?" she says bitterly.

"I don't know, maybe the fact that I'm his father!" Jack blurts.

"What?" a tiny voice says.

Both adults turn to the little boy who is looking at them with a mouth hanging open.

"Did you need something, babe?" Sam asks choosing to ignore the question that he just blurted out.

"Is Jack, my daddy?" Tyler asks not willing to be that easily distracted.

Sam's stomach twists, "Yeah honey, he is." She really didn't want her kid to know. She knows she should trust Jack. She believes that it wasn't his fault. But she still can't trust him, not completely.

"Why didn't you love me?" Tyler says looking up at his father.

"Oh God, son, I love you," Jack says picking him up.

"No, you left," he says.

Sam breaks in, "Honey, I told you that your Daddy never knew about you."

"And if I had known I would have been there for you," Jack says.

"But you weren't, didn't you love Mommy?" the kid asks, looking at his father in confusion.

"I loved your mother very much," Jack tells him holding the child chose. Tyler has gone a little limp in his arms. He's dead weight, snuggled into the crook of Jack's neck.

"I don't understand what happened," Ty informs them.

"Neither do I," Sam says.

"It was all because I don't have good handwriting," Jack proclaims.

The little baby pulls his head away, and looks at his father. "What?" he asks.

"That's right, my handwriting was bad, and that's why we couldn't be together anymore," Jack informs his son.

"Oh, ok," the little boy says. Sam stares at him open mouthed. That made sense to Tyler? It didn't even make sense to her, and she was an adult who had actually lived through it.

"How is your handwriting now?" he asks pulling back to look at Jack's face. He's trying to figure out if his father is going to leave again.

"I'm working on it," Jack says. He's looking over his son's head, and there is a message in this for Sam, and he is not talking about his handwriting.

"I'll help you practice," Ty proclaims. "I can write a 'T'."

"'T' for Tyler," Jack says sitting down so his son can skip off.

"How did you know that?" Tyler asks.

"Well, my spelling's better than my handwriting, son," Jack replies.

And Sam giggles. She giggles in a way that she hasn't since the last time she knew Jack. And then she stands there as Tyler 'teaches' his father to write. She smiles at her boys. This is right. This is the way it should have been.


	9. Part 2 Chapter 3

**Spoilers for Children of the Gods**

**The Next Day**

"Can we go to the toy store, Grandpa?" Tyler says looking up hopefully at his grandpa.

"We came here to get some things for the new house," Jacob reminds him.

"Things like toys?" the boy asks.

Jacob laughs, and turns into the toys store. Suddenly his grandson starts sprinting away from him. "Tyler!" Jacob shouts in panic, as he runs after his son.

Tyler flings himself into a tall man's arms shouting, "Daddy!"

The man picks him up with delight in his eyes, but says, "Where is your mother?"

Jacob stops his sprint, and looks at the man utterly confused. Did that kid seriously just say Daddy? What is going on here?

"At home," the boy says.

"How did you get here?" the man says now seeming a little bit worried.

"Grandpa," Tyler says pointing to him.

The man with his grandson on his hip looks over at Jacob. "Hi, Jack O'Neill."

"Yeah right," Jacob says looking daggers at him

"Jacob, this is my daddy! He only left because he has bad hand writing," Tyler announces.

"What?" Jacob says staring at the boy in confusion.

"Look, I'm willing to give you a more full explanation sometime when little ears aren't around," Jack says.

"Can I have my grandson back?" Jacob asks with his mouth in a firm line.

Jack nods his head, and takes a step forward to hand the kid over to Jacob. Tyler wraps his arms around Jack's neck, "No, Daddy, you can't leave," he whines.

Well, Jacob can't very well take the kid away from him now. "Ok little man, how about…Jack hangs out with us until we're done in the toy store."

"And then I'll see you after Mommy and I come back from our…trip," Jack reminds him.

"'Kay," Tyler agrees. Then he turns to his grandfather, "And you can't call him Jack anymore. He changed his name to Daddy."

Jacob can't help but smile.

"Daddy, toy stores are for kids. What are you doing here?" Tyler asks.

"Well, I might have been here looking for something a little boy might enjoy," Jack says with a grin.

Tyler bounces in his arms, "Am I the boy? Am I the boy?"

Jack laughs, "You are."

Tyler's eyes grow round, "What are you going to get me?"

"Tyler," his grandfather scolds.

"I was thinking of a catcher's mitt," Jack says.

"My size?" the boy asks hopefully.

"Exactly," Jack says.

"Grandpa, Daddy tried to teach me to play baseball. But I couldn't catch it, and I cried. He told me the glove was too big, and we went in and made puzzles. I'm good at puzzles." Suddenly another thought occurs to the little boy, "Daddy, what if I still not good at baseball?"

"Then I'll come back here and buy you some new puzzles," Jack replies.

Damn, Jack is getting harder to hate, Jacob thinks to himself. This man may have been an ass to his daughter, but he seemed to getbe pretty good at the fatherhood thing. Get? Be? Seemed to have gotten? I like "be" there.

-0-0-0-

The closer Charlie gets to his Grandpa's car the tighter his grip on his father's neck. Ever since he found a glove that fit, he's refused to take it off his hand, and it keeps knocking Jack in the head.

"Buddy, it's time for you to go home now," Jack whispers in the boy's ear.

"Daddy's coming too," the boy says firmly.

"Honey, your grandpa just got here, you want some time with him," Jack says.

"Grandpa isn't leaving," Tyler says sadly.

Jack pulls the boy away far enough that he can look him in the eye, "I'm not leaving either, Ty."

Jacob clears his throat to keep tears out of his eyes. "Jack, why don't you meet us at the house?"

"You're sure?" Jack asks carefully.

Jacob nods. He can't believe he is actually inviting the man who broke his daughter's heart over. But this boy, he needed his father right now. Jacob knows he would be causing trauma to the kid to make his father leave him.

"I want to ride with Daddy," Tyler ways wrapping his arms tighter around his father's neck.

Jacob starts to protest, but Jack already has it covered, "I'm sorry, bud, that isn't going to happen. I don't have a car seat yet. But you be good for your Grandpa, and I'll see you in a couple of minutes," Jack leans forward so there are only a couple of inches between him, and a man that he's barely met.

"Ok," Tyler says turning and leaping into his grandfather's arms.

-0-0-0-

Sam and her father are sitting next to each other on the deck as Jack and his son play catch in the front yard. The correctly sized mitt helped, but the kid is still a little bit clumsy. The kid is nervous about making mistakes, but every time he drops the ball Jack tells a joke or makes a mistake on his own to make the kid more comfortable.

"He's spending a lot of time with Tyler, isn't he," Jacob asks.

"Well, he has a lot of time to make up for," Sam says.

"He does," Jacob says bitterly.

Sam looks at her father, "That wasn't his fault."

"I don't know what kind of crap he fed you, but I was there when you were pregnant and terrified. There is no excuse for what he did to you, Sammy."

"He never gave me a fake number. He just writes his stupid ones like sevens," she whispers.

"No, Sammy, I looked for him, if there was a Jack O'Neill in the Air Force I would have found him," he says firmly.

"He wasn't in the Air Force after the war," she whispers.

"Didn't he have your number?" Jacob demands annoyed by the previous sentence.

"He called it, and when Mark answered early in the morning, he assumed…" Sam says.

"Oh," Jacob says nodding. This man should have known his daughter better than that. Not that Sammy didn't have the chance to be with lots of men, but she didn't take very many up on the opportunity.

"He got depressed, suicidal, that's why he left the Air Force," Sam whispers.

"So…what is he doing now?" Jacob asks softly. He can't help but wonder if his grandfather has an unemployed man for a father.

"He's back in the Air Force, we're on the same team. Jack is trying to move things around at work, he wants to be here for him when I'm traveling," Sam says softly.

"You letting him watch Tyler alone?" Jacob says in surprise.

"I'm going to have to dad," she says.

"No, Sam, you don't have to," her father says softly.

"He could take Tyler from me," she whispers.

"No way in hell is anyone taking that boy from you. You're his mother. What the hell did he say? Did he threaten you?" Jacob says, barely able to keep his voice below a bellow.

"No, Jack hasn't said anything about it. But he could, Dad. Anytime he wants to. I've got to…keep him happy," Sam says quietly.

"Sammy, what happened is not your fault. You were cleared," her father says softly looking at the kid.

"Don't tell Jack what happened to Tyler, please," she says turning to him, pleading.

"Of course not," Jacob says his stomach twisting. So, Tyler's dad is back in the picture, and Sam is worried that it is all going to go to hell. Perfect.

**Two Days Later**

Jack is a good commander. You can tell that, because he notices right away that Sam isn't going through the gate with the rest of the team. He hangs back with her.

"Captain?" he asks. It feels weird for him to be referring to her with rank. He still calls her by her last name when he's at her house. But that's a lot more personal than a rank.

"Oh, don't worry, Colonel. I won't let you down," Sam promises offering a smile. She really needs him to think that she's good at her job. Maybe if he thinks that he'll also believe she's a good mother. God, why had she fed the kid pizza on the first day they came over? She always feed her kid good food. But it was the day of a move for God's sake.

"Good. I was going to say, 'ladies first.'" Jack says with a cocky grin. Both of them walk toward the shimmering pool of the Stargate.

She has never seen anything so wonderful in her whole life. She has read about the Stargate for years, but up close and personal it was far more amazing than anything she's ever seen in her whole life, "My God. Look at this! I mean, the energy the 'gate must release to create a stable wormhole is…it's astronomical to use exactly the right word!" She lets a finger touch it, and waves move out from it as if it was a pond with ripples. "You can actually see the fluctuation in the event horizon!" she mutters in awe.

He puts a hand on the small of her back, and pushes her through the event horizon before taking one step to fall into the wormhole after her.

Sam knew that going through the wormhole wasn't going to be fun. She wasn't just bragging when she talked about the things she'd experienced. But this was nothing like being a pilot, or a soldier, or even like giving birth. It was worse.

"Ugh. I think I'm going to be sick, ugh," Sam groans. She immediately regrets it. She's supposed be making herself look good.

"Maybe you shouldn't have had that big lunch, huh?" Jack laughs. Suddenly a bunch of people in strangely old fashion clothing pops out of nowhere with the guns loaded. Each of them loweraim their own guns onat the people. Lower? Maybe "aim"? "The people" is a bit vague, maybe "the earthlings" or "the airmen" or something like that.

Then Daniel comes out from behind a pillar, and holds his hands up in the air saying, "Cha'hali! Cha'hali. Lower your guns." Guns go down all around, and then Daniel grins looking at Jack, "Hello, Jack. Welcome back."

Jack grins in Daniel's direction, and then walks right past him to Skaara. Skaara salutes, and Jack returns the gesture before pulling him into a hug. Sam's stomach twists in jealousy. She'd read about Skaara in the mission reports of course, but she hadn't realized that he and Jack were like this. Jeeze, Jack was good with all kids of all ages. She was still figuring out how to be the mother of a small child. She was pretty sure that she wouldn't be good with a teenager. If Jack bonded with Skaara because he reminded him of his dead son, and in this reality he never met Sara, then how would that affect their relationship? Maybe Jack really is just good with all kids.

After Jack and Skaara greet one another, Jack turns to Daniel and says, "Daniel, how you doing?"

"Uh, good, you?" Daniel says fairly awkwardly. Jack might be good with kids, but he wasn't good with scientists Sam thinks glumly knowing that she herself is a scientist.

More greetings go around the group, including the unveiling of Daniel's completely gorgeous foreign wife.

Sam is feeling quite insecure so she starts talking technobabble. That is definitely one area in which she shines, "Amazing. This is what was missing from the dig at Giza. This is how they controlled it! It took us fifteen years and three supercomputers to MacGyver a system on Earth."

Daniel and Jack are looking at each other completely confused about she's talking about. Sam doesn't notice that she's not getting the approval she wants so desperately, "Look how small it is!"

"Captain!" Jack practically yells finally getting her attention. She turns and looks at him as he holds up his hand indicating Daniel.

"Oh right, excuse me. Doctor Jackson, I presume. I'm Doctor Samantha Carter," she says extending her hand to him.

Then they start talking mission objectives, and Sam works to catch up. She's been in charge before. But she's never been in charge in the battle against hostile aliens.

-0-0-0-

Skaara comes up to Jack as he's sitting at the party. He has a thick accent, but he speaks English now. "O'Neill…your lighter?" he offers holding it out.

Jack smiles at him. Now that he has a kid, he has even a greater relationship with Skaara. "No, it's yours, I gave that to you to keep. Remember?" he says with a smile.

"Thank you," Skaara says, leaving.

"You know he's never had that out of his sight the whole time you were gone," Daniel tells him.

"Yeah?" Jack says with a smile. Right now, Jack wants to gather up Charles and Daniel, the closest things that he's had to a best friend, and tell them that he has a son. But they'd have questions, especially Daniel. Questions that it would be very awkward to answer when Sam was within earshot.

-0-0-0

*The guard tries to grab Sha're's arm. "Nen'ye!" she shouts trying to break free. Daniel moves behind a pillar in an attempt to get a shot at her aggressor. He moves just as he attempts, and he only ends up getting his own wife in his sighs.

"You are chosen," the Jaffa says.

"No," Sha're says in English trying to rip the staff weapon out of his hands. The Jaffa rips it out of her hands, and shoots her with it. The shot goes into her stomach.

"NO!" Daniel screams desperately rushing forward.

The Jaffa is onto another person now, and Daniel takes his wife into his arms. "Sha're," he says desperately.

"Dan'yel, my love, promise me that you are going to be happy again," she pleads.

"Sha're," he says crying.

She grabs his arm.

"Someday," he tells her.

"Someday soon," she insists.

"I will destroy them for this," he promises her.

She shakes her head, "No love, if you do anything do it so this never happens to something else. Not revenge," she pleads.

He nods his head.

"I love you, Dan'yel, and don't be afraid of love."

-0-0-0-

Jack is walking down the hallway after the mission, thinking about the fact that tomorrow he will get to see his son again. He's also contemplating whether or not he could get away with a phone call tonight.

He sees Daniel standing there and greets them. He's looking almost as bad as Jack was right after he Sam left.

Except, Jack realizes, Daniel is much worse off. He lost a wife. A wife who died, because she refused to let some alien take her as wife. A wife who died right in his arms. *

"Hey," Jack says.

"They don't know what to do with me. And I don't know what to do with myself," Daniel says with a laugh that isn't really a laugh.

"C'mon, let's get out of here," Jack says knowing that this is more important than calling his son, at least for the night.

-0-0-0-

Jack's gut is wrenching as he listens to Daniel talk about his wife. He knows that he shouldn't be jealous of Daniel. He just lost his wife after all. But he had a wife, for a year. Jack had had Samantha, for three months. And now, it looked like he was going to have to look at her…at work…at their homes as they shuffled the kid back and forth, every day for the rest of his life. And there would never again be anything between them.

"I have a son," Jack blurts.

Daniel stares at him blinking for several seconds. "What?"

"He's…three," Jack informs him.

"You're telling me that when you were seriously considering blowing yourself up on Abydos last year you had a freaking toddler depending on you?" Daniel says in a voice edged in anger. Jack doesn't understand exactly why there is so much anger in her voice. He doesn't know that Daniel is an orphan.

"No…well…yes, but I didn't know about him," Jack stammers.

"So, if the mom kept you from it so long, why now?" Daniel asks.

"We ah…lost contact. It was a misunderstanding, but neither of us really had a way to get ahold of the other one."

"So what changed?" Daniel says.

"Ah…Tyler's mom is Captain Carter," Jack admits.

"Sam? You knocked up Sam?" Daniel says.

"'Knocked up'?" Jack says with a look of disapproval.

"Sorry, that was disrespectful, I'm just surprised. She's really beautiful."

"Hey!" Jack protests.

"Sorry," Daniel laughs.

"I didn't look surprised that your wife was beautiful," Jack says.

Daniel laughs again, "So are you and Sam going to get married?"

"Oh, that's highly unlikely," Jack says taking a swig of his bear.

"Why?" Daniel probes companionably.

Jack sighs, "Well, she hasn't…exactly put up with any of my advances. She's letting me around the kid. I don't want to push things…I can't lose the chance to be around them."

"She wouldn't keep you from your son," Daniel says with absolute certainly even though they've only had a few technobabble conversations.

"I don't know, she's really overprotective of him."

"If she keeps him from you, you could sue for custody," Daniel points out.

Jack shakes his head, "I can't imagine doing that to her, it would destroy her."

"It's ok, you're going to get to know that kid of yours."

***Ok, we're moving farther from cannon, I'll admit it.**


	10. Part 2 Chapter 4

**Spoilers for The Enemy Within**

**The Next Day**

"Daddy!" Ty says, flinging himself into his arms as soon as he walks through the door.

"Hey, buddy," Jack says, holding onto him and giving him a light kiss on his cheek. He's never kissed his son before. He didn't feel comfortable enough before, but suddenly, seeing how much his son missed him, it felt right. His son smells like baby shampoo, and color crayons. Jack decides that this is the most amazing smell I the world.

He sets his son down. "Can we go fishing?" Tyler asks excitedly. Jack mentioned fishing before the Abydos mission, and his son's been thinking about it ever since.

"Not today, it's raining," Jack points out.

"Doesn't that make the fish bite better?" Tyler asks.

Jack laughs, "Actually, that's true; however; I am not going to take a kid out in the rain to fish."

Tyler starts pouting. Jack grins, "I brought you that new book I promised," he says, pulling it out of his bag.

"Read it to me?" the kid says holding it up.

"I will, in a bit. I've got to talk to your mom first," he says, giving the kid's head a rub before heading into the kitchen.

"Carter," he says, walking into the room. "I, ah… wanted to give you something," he says, handing her an envelope.

She smiles, and opens it. "Jack, I can't accept this, this check is for thousands of dollars!"

"I know, I guess you could say I'm way behind on child support. I'll get you more… eventually. And I started a college savings account for him, too…" he says.

"Jack, you don't have to do that," Sam whispers, "I took care of him." Her voice has a dark edge of challenge in it.

"I want to, Sam," he says, closing her hands over the envelope. He shifts on his feet, "So… the General put us on different teams." General Hammond had made that announcement at the debriefing a few hours before. Hammond didn't like demoting her, but he didn't have much of a choice if Sam and Jack were going to be separate. No-one but Jack O'Neill was really qualified to lead people through the gate besides himself, and unfortunately his body (not to mention his daughters) wouldn't let him do missions like that anymore.

"It doesn't matter much right now, both teams are going through the gate tomorrow," Sam says.

"I know, but it might matter someday, and I just wanted you to know… I wasn't pushing for you to be on SG-2."

She's confused by this, "I thought you asked us to be on separate teams."

"I did, but I wanted you to be the one that got to keep SG-1."

She smiles, "Well, I thank you for that, but it was a completely illogical wish."

The heat of the day has caused a stray hair to lose the hold of the hair gel and fall on her face. It's begging him to wipe it away. He remembers the moan she used to make when he'd wake her up by running his hand through her hair. The same motion he used on his own hair when he was nervous. Only, when he did it on her, it didn't make her look ridiculous. It looked right on her. In fact, her new hairstyle looked a bit like it had been designed for him to run his fingers through.

He wants to touch her so bad that he aches, but instead he just turns and walks into the living room to read to his son.

Sam stands in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, watching her son curled up next to Jack on the couch. She remembers the way that it felt when _she_ was tucked into all of his nooks and crannies in the way that her son is right now. She allows herself to remember, for the first time in four years, how safe she felt when she was with him.

She's desperate for that safety now.

But she has to keep her distance. She can't let him get too close, or he's going to figure out that she doesn't really deserve her son.

-0-0-0-

"Well, the kid finally conked out," Jack says, coming down the flight of stairs. "So, I guess I'll see you at work tomorrow."

She smiles, "Wait a second, Jack." And then she starts walking up the stairs. He follows her, and her heart starts to pound at a thousand miles a minute when she walks past the kid's room and into her own.

He swallows hard, and gives a brief smile when she turns back to him uncertainly. He feels weird being here. He felt right at home inside her tent. The two of them, huddled together on a cot made for one. With a big empty tent, a tent made for dozens, but only containing two.

This is different. The bed is made for two people, but the room is made for one. It's all Sammy in there.

She walks over to her closet, and he stands awkwardly in the doorway. She grabs down a box, "You know when you go to get your film developed, and there is always that box to check, "Single, or double?"

He stares at her, still having absolutely no idea where she is going with that. He gives her a slow nod.

"I always click double," she tells him slowly.

And suddenly Jack can't breathe. He stares at the box in her arms like a man starving.

"It's every picture that I've ever taken of Tyler," she says, putting the box in his arms.

Jack has never wanted anything in his whole life as badly as he wants that box of pictures, but he also knows that it's too much, that he can't take this from her. "I can't, Sam."

She traces his name on the cover of the box, "Jack." "I got them for you," she whispers, "It was stupid, I know. I didn't believe that I would ever see you again, but… they were always yours, Jack."

His eyes are wet, "Sam, I can't thank you enough… it's…" but there are no words to come after that. No, there is no description of what that box of pictures means to him.

"And you asked about your mom before, I never gave you an answer. But yeah, I think we should meet her. Where does she live anyway?" she asks softly.

"Chicago, she'd be willing to fly down any time that's convenient," Jack says.

Sam nods her head. "So, the weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow, did you want to take Tyler fishing?"

"Sure, I can pick you guys up…" Jack begins.

"If you wanted… it could just be a father and son thing." Then, suddenly, she pauses, "Unless, of course, I mean if you don't want to have to take care of him, or something, I would be more than willing to…"

He stops her, "You trust me that much?"

She nods her head, but she refuses to look at him. Of course she trusts him, but doesn't that just mean that's dangerous? Doesn't that just mean that he has the power to destroy them all? But what choice does she have? She either has to trust him with her son for an afternoon or trust him for a lifetime.

**The Next Day**

It's not a situation Jack ever pictured himself in. Charlie threatening Carter's life. Well, actually, it was something Charlie had talked about a lot. Back when Jack was curled up in the fetal position waiting for death. But it wasn't something he ever imagined now. Charlie knew how much she meant to him. She was the only person, the only person he had ever imagined spending his life with.

But it wasn't really Charlie.

"Don't shoot," he says, looking into Carter's eyes. He wants to tell her that everything is going to be alright, but the words won't come out of his mouth.

Charlie climbs into the elevator, and he pushes the gun of an airman who didn't listen to his pleading down, "Don't shoot," he says, never losing eyes with Carter until the elevator door slams shut. Jack takes off running, having noted what floor Charlie had sent them too. He starts to pray, to no-one in particular, that he isn't going to be too late.

And there is Charlie, not the thing that looks like Charlie, but Charlie standing in the elevator "Well, it's about time. Gimme a hand here."

Jack looks at his friend in shock, "Charlie, what the hell's going on?"

"I don't have a clue, Colonel, but she's hurt bad. We have to get her to the infirmary," Charlie says looking panicked.

Then Jack's eyes fall to the crumpled form of on the floor, "Carter?"

"For God sakes, Jack, my name is Samantha," she says, glaring at him.

He smiles at her, "Can we lift her?" he asks, looking at Daniel. He doesn't know why he thinks Daniel might know more about medical things than he does, but he really doesn't know anything.

"I don't think I have a spinal injury," Sam informs them.

"So, I can just carry her down there?" Jack asks those around.

"Let's wait for the infirmary staff to get up here, they've already been called," Hammond informs Jack.

-0-0-0-

"How are you doing?" Jack asks softly, coming to Sam's infirmary bed.

"Fine, they're sending me home for the rest of the day. They say that I'll be cleared for active duty again by tomorrow. How is Charlie?"

"Not everyone is nice enough to ask after their attacker," he says.

"It wasn't his fault, Jack," she says.

He sits down on the edge of the bed without being asked, "I know, but I just can't get that image out of my head. Someone threatening your life like that."

"I'm fine," she says, "I should probably get ready to leave, then."

"I'll take you home," he says.

"No, you've got to stay here, Charlie…" she says.

He smiles, "They're not doing the surgery until tomorrow. Daniel is going to stay with him."

"Daniel needs sleep," she says.

"Daniel isn't going to sleep no matter where we go. He's still not used to dead bodies.

She nods her head, knowing that if Jack died, she wouldn't be able to sleep, and they weren't even married, "But I'll be fine at home. My dad is there."

"True, but I think I promised to spend the whole day in bed with you, and I think I'm a couple of years overdue," he says.

She giggles, "Ok, just let me change."

"We can pick up some movies on the way home if you want," he offers.

"Ok, but if we go to the video store, we are going to have to get Toy Story."

Jack laughs, "Has he seen it a bunch?"

"Enough that he has it memorized. He had his own copy, but he wore it out. Seriously! I didn't even know that was possible. I haven't got the chance to buy him a new one yet, so…"

"We would pretty much make his night," Jack says.

Sam nods.

"I've never seen Toy Story," Jack admits.

"Well, that is something that is going to have to be fixed immediately," Sam says, grabbing her clothes and walking past him. She's careful about the back flap of the hospital gown, but the beautiful view of those gorgeous legs, that's enough to make him relive all his favorite seconds with Samantha. He remembers what those felt like wrapped around his hips. He remembers the involuntary squeeze they made whenever she came. And that brought back the way she said his name with a sharp intake of breath. Like she was swallowing his identity whole.

She looks back at him self-consciously. "What?" she asks.

"Nothing," he says. But she remembers that look in his eyes. It was the look of a starving man before a banquet. The look someone gives a mirage in the desert. And the look he gave her every time they were alone in the tent, in that second before their bodies joined.

She just about invited him to come to the bathroom to help her dress. She could claim she couldn't lift her arm or something, right?

He glances away, blushing, and she uses the loss of eye contact to escape. But as she walks away, she thinks of all the times she made him blush, from the middle of his chest all the way up to his ears. And all it took was a few words of dirty talk whispered in his ear.

He was always more of a doer than a talker.

-0-0-0-

Surely this was the definition of perfection, Jack thought, looking around at the bed. Sam was laying on the other side, and their son was between them.

"Daddy, watch, he's going to say it again," Tyler informs him.

"To infinity and beyond," Jack quotes with his son.

Tyler giggles at the enthusiasm with which his dad says it.

"Tyler, it's time for you to be going to bed," Sam says softly.

"No, mommy, wait until it's over," Tyler whines.

"Ok, but as soon as it's over, you brush your teeth and go right to bed, then," Sam instructs.

Tyler eagerly nods his head, turning back to the television.

"Pushover," Jack accuses.

"Five minutes left," Sam mouths.

"Genius," Jack amends.

-0-0-0-

"Ok, the kid is out, now on to films made for adults," Jack says, popping the movie Sam had requested in. ""'An Affair to RememberRemember', sounds like it just about belongs in the porno section."

Sam starts laughing hysterically.

"What is so funny?" Jack asks.

"Oh, nothing you're just in for an… unpleasant surprise."

The movie begins. "It's in black and white?" he asks.

"Yes, Jack, yes it is," Sam says.

"There aren't going to be any sex scenes in this movie, are there?" he asks, handing her a bag of popcorn.

"Nope," she says with a grin.

-0-0-0-

Jack glares at the closing credits, "That was the worst movie ever," he says firmly.

Sam giggles, "It's widely considered the most romantic movie of all time."

"She should have just told him she couldn't walk," Jack says.

"Yeah, she should have told him," Sam says looking in his eyes.

"And he should have known she'd never really want to be with anyone else," Jack adds now knowing the game that they are playing at.

"Well, the evidence was pretty damning," Sam says.

"Still."

"Yeah, still," she says scooching down so she is laying on her side on the bed facing him.

"But you know, they got together in the end," he says.

"Even though she was hurt," Sam says, reaching over to take his hand. Jack scoots down on the bed next to her.

"So maybe it was a really good movie after all," he says, taking a hand to run through her hair.

"I think so, very romantic," Sam replies, scooting closer to him. Close enough that the familiar scent enters both of their nostrils. Some… themness… that can't be hidden by changing from military issued to their own soaps and shampoos.

Jack slowly puts his hand on Sam's cheek. A sure sign, she remembers, that's he's about to kiss her.

Jacob enters the room, "Sam, did you need anything before I go to bed…" He freezes, "Jack, I didn't realize you were still here."

Jack stands up quickly, "No, I was just leaving, the movie was done."

"Jack, I didn't mean to chase you out of my daughter's room," Jacob says, sounding truly apologetic.

"No, seriously, it's fine. I'll see you tomorrow at work, Sam. Have a good night Jacob," Jack says as he leaves the room.

Jacob walks over to turn off the television that's finished a movie, and pops the rented flick out of the film. "Well, no wonder," he says, holding up the movie title toward his daughter, "Your mother always said no-one could help melting after a movie like that."

"Actually, he said it was the worst movie known to man," Sam corrects.

"I'm sure he did, sweetie, that's why your faces were an inch apart when I walked in."


	11. Part 2 Chapter 5

**The Next Day**

Jack senses someone standing in the doorway of his office. Whoever it was very quiet, but Jack is black-ops, and he can tell.

He turns to her, "How did you know I'd be here?"

"It was clever, Jack. Telling people you didn't know where your office was, returning memos with a "return to sender". Turning your lights off and hiding under your desk whenever your black ops training alerted you someone was looking for you."

"But not clever enough," Jack says.

"Well, I am a genius," Sam says with a shrug of her shoulders.

There is silence for long moment, "I'm sorry about Charlie, Jack."

Jack doesn't say anything, just shakes his head.

"I know it must have killed you… to tell Teal'c what to do… to shut it off," she says softly.

"I killed my best friend," he says with tears running down his face.

"Jack, he told you… he didn't want to live as a Goa'uld," Sam says.

"Maybe, with more time we would have figured out a way to save him," Jack says.

"We tried everything, and he was going to get away. There is no telling what kind of suffering Charlie would have gone through… What kind of suffering he would have caused if you hadn't done it," Sam says, touching his arm.

"No, I gave up on him, and you never give up on anyone, Sam."

She pulls him into a hug, and cries right along with him for a while.

"Sam, next time it could be you, and… I couldn't do that to you," he whispers.

"It could just as easily be you," she says, with terror lurking beneath her eyes.

"I have to pick up my mom from the airport," he says standing up.

"We could get an airman to do it," she offers, standing up right after him.

"No, I'd better. Besides, I'm going to have to put on a happy face for Ty anyway, what does it matter if I start an hour earlier?"

"I find myself glad I never introduced Tyler to Charlie," Sam says with a sad smile.

"He would have loved that kid, you know. I didn't even tell him yet," Jack says sadly.

This surprises Sam. She knows that Jack is a very private person, but she thought that he would have told people by now.

He sees the thoughts on her face, "I'm not ashamed of our son, Sam. I've told people: Daniel, Teal'c, my family. I just… haven't seen much of Charlie lately."

"I stole you from him again," she smiles, remembering the first days of their romance overseas.

"I'll see you at home in an hour," Jack says.

And Sam pauses in awe. When did Jack start thinking of her house as 'home'?

-0-0-0-

"Hey, bean sprout," a stout woman swings Tyler up into her arms for a bear hug.

"I can't breathe, and you're crushing my lungs, Grandma!" Tyler protests.

"Wow! Sorry there, Snookums," she says, loosening her grip.

"My name is Ty," he informs her pulling back from the hug.

"She knows your name, Bud," Jacks says, walking into the house behind his mother, carrying two large coolers, "She is just calling you nicknames like I do."

"Mrs. O'Neill, I have to know, did you call your son Snookums when he was small?" Sam asks with a grin hiding in her face.

"I still do, don't I?" Mrs. O'Neill says, smiling at her son.

Sam doesn't hide the giggle now.

"Are we eating now?" Jack asks his mother.

"Of course, get some hot dish in this little one," Mrs. O'Neill says.

"Hot dish?" Sam asks.

"It's a Midwest thing. I'd never heard of it before we moved to Minnesota. It's… meat and vegetables and pasta all in one big…" Jack explains.

"Hot dish?" Sam asks.

"Yeah," he says, looking a little bashful at this new family tradition.

"I don't like hot dishes," Ty says crossing his arms.

"Of course you do, Bud, and if you suck up real good you're going to also get a bar," Jack says.

"Rice crispies, chocolate, and peanut butter," Mrs. O'Neill explains.

"You can put the food in the kitchen, Snookums," Sam says with a grin.

"Ok, Angel," he says, getting revenge on her for calling him a name this only his mother can get away with.

"Angel?" Jacob says with his 'you've got to be kidding me' look.

Sam blushes, "Ah… when Jack and I first met."

"When Sam was saving our ass..." he glances at the little boy, looking up at his father for a story, "...sets."

"Jack was a little loopy from blood loss," Sam says.

"Actually, I thought I was dead," he informs her.

"Like I said, loopy from the blood loss," Sam interrupts.

"And then the sunlight touches on her hair, and it looks like a halo," Jack says with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You never told me that," Sam says, smiling at him.

"Well, thank you for saving my son," Mrs. O'Neill says genuinely.

"Daddy, I want more war stories," Tyler says, reaching up with his arms, a universal childhood signal for 'pick me up'.

"You are a little young for war stories," Jack says, swinging the kid into his arms.

Jacob hands him an open bottle of beer.

"Daddy, most people have a Daddy and a Mommy, don't they?" Tyler asks.

"Yeah babe," he says, "And you have two parents, too."

"Right, but I only used to have one, and both of my parents only have one. Mommy only has a daddy, and daddy only has a mommy. How come?" he asks.

The adults all sit in silence, "Sweetie," Sam says, "Remember how we told you that Grandma died when I was little?"

Tyler nods.

"Ok, so that is why you only have one grandma," Sam says softly.

"How come I only have one grandpa?" Tyler asks, looking at his father.

"You have a grandpa," Jack says in a tone that would clue an adult on to the fact that they should switch subjects, but a three year old doesn't take notice of that.

"Will I get to meet him? I'm meeting lots of relatives lately," Tyler says.

"Yes, you are," Jack says giving him a smile, "But Grandpa lives too far away, so you won't ever get to meet him."

"Don't lie to him," Mrs. O'Neill's says fiercely.

"Mom, I don't want to exactly explain spousal abuse to a three year old," Jack says before he can think about it.

"What is that?" Tyler says, his tongue not quite able to try out the new word.

Jack desperately tries to think up a lie. But Jacob breaks in. This is the first he's heard of Jack's past, but he knows that Jack and his mother shouldn't have to explain this.

"Sweetie, remember when your mother told you that her job is fighting bad guys?" Jacob asks.

Tyler nods.

"Well, Jack's daddy is one of those bad guys."

Tyler looks up at her father, "Was he really?"

Jack swallows a lump in his throat, and the makes eye contact with his mother, "Yeah, he was."

"Mommy and you could get him, you fight bad guys, right?" Tyler asks.

How simple the world of a child is. Jack can't figure out how to explain away this vigilante kind of justice.

Sam breaks in, "Remember when you hit Daddy?"

Tyler pulls himself closer to his father, "Sorry, daddy."

"Why was that wrong?" Jack presses, seeing where Sam is going with this.

"'Cause you don't fight your family," Tyler says.

"Exactly," Jack says.

"Oh, ok," Tyler says.

-0-0-0-

"You have everything you need?" Jack asks later that night, as he looks into his guest room.

"I'm fine, son, and I'm proud of you," Mrs. O'Neill says, pulling her son to her for the thousandth hug of the day.

"You're proud of me for having a kid I didn't know about?" Jack asks guilty. His mom had been cool about this whole thing, maybe a bit too cool.

"He's a great, boy, Son, and as soon as you knew about him you did the right thing. That's what counts," his mother assures him. She grins at him, "So what's going on with your Angel?"

He blushes like a teenage boy being teased about his first crush, "Nothing, mom."

"Come on, I've seen the way that you two looked at each other. There is something intense going on there," his mother says.

He sits down on the edge of the bed, "It was very intense. So intense, that sometimes it scares me," he nearly whispers.

"She burned you once," his mother with a nod.

"She didn't do it on purpose," he says.

"No, she didn't," his mother repeats. When he was a kid he hated these sorts of conversations. He used to just want his mother to tell him what to do, instead of repeating everything that he said until he figured it out for himself. Now, as an adult, he's come to enjoy the genius of it.

"I never really stopped loving her," he whispers.

"You might want to tell her that."

"What if she doesn't feel the same?"

"Then you'll go back to just being the father of her kid, nothing ventured, nothing gained," his mother says with a smile.

"I was going to propose to her… back then," he admits, looking at the wall.

His mother smiles, "Well, son I think I'd hang on to that ring, because I saw the same look in her eyes that I saw in yours."

Jack frowns, remembering that the ring is actually at the bottom of his pond. "Ty's cute, though, isn't he?" Jack gushes by way of distraction.

"Oh, he got your energy! And definitely your intelligence. He's a smart one."

"Oh, he's smart, but he doesn't get that from me. His mother is a genius," Jack explains.

"So are you," his mother says.

"Well, you're my mother, you have to say that."

"And how about your high school that made you valedictorian? Did they have to do it, too?" she presses.

"Hey, don't tell the Carters that little detail, ok?" Jack says, glancing into her eyes for a brief moment before they dart away.

"Why would you be hiding that from them?" his mother asks with concern.

"I'm not exactly hiding it," Jack says with a sigh. He doesn't know how to explain this without making Sam look bad, "Look, women have a tough time in the Air Force. So, Sam spends a lot of her time trying to convince people how amazing she is. She is amazing. But, she doesn't exactly need a lot of competition in the intelligence department."

"You spend a lot of time with your son?" Mrs. O'Neill asks.

"Yeah, I see him almost every day. Especially when Sam is off… out of the country. Both of our jobs have us leaving the country for a couple days at a time. We think it's important for me to be there when Sam isn't. I mean, he has Jacob, too," Jack says.

Mrs. O'Neill nods, "I'm glad you get to see him whenever you want to."

"Yeah, I'm pretty lucky," Jack agrees.

Mrs. O'Neill bumps her son's shoulder. Jack can tell there is something else on his mother's mind. He thinks he might know what it is, and he hopes she doesn't broach the topic. He knew he should have said no when Jacob slipped a beer into his hand after dinner.

But she does, "You're drinking, Jack."

"I have a beer every once and a while, mom," he says.

"Children of alcoholics should avoid drinking," she reminds him.

"I know, Mom, and I promise I have it under control," he whispers.

"Ok," she says.

He reaches his hand up and traces a scar on her face, "I would never do that."

"I know, babe," she says hugging him.


	12. Part 2 Chapter 6

**Spoilers for the Broca Divide**

**One month later**

Jack has on nothing more than a towel around his waist, when suddenly he comes into nearly physical contact with Samantha Carter. This, he thinks grumpily, is the danger of having a locker room where the only difference between men and women was the hands on a clock.

"Carter, sorry, didn't know you were in here," he says, quickly pulling a shirt over himself. Sam snakes a hand in the small hairs of his back, and pulls him into a kiss.

"Mmmph!" he says into her mouth. Then he pushes her away, "Carter! Wait! What the hell is going on?"

"I want you," Sam says, grabbing him by his lapels and kissing him fiercely. No, this isn't right. Sam doesn't kiss like this, and she never says 'I want you'. She never asks for anything she wants, especially sexual things. She would dance around whatever she wanted and leave him to figure this out. Something is going on, and he has to figure out what it was.

From inside of her mouth he says, "Why? I mean no!" He pushes her away again. "Carter, this is a little out of line, don't you think?"

She shoves him onto the long wooden benches of the locker room. "Don't you want me?" she asks him, kissing him again.

"No. No, not like this, for crying out loud." He's not going to have sex with her in a freaking locker room. That's not what she deserves. When they have sex again, it's going to be like it was before -private, gentle, and long. He shoves her back once again. "Carter! What's gotten into you?"

And that particular question suddenly makes sense. Of course, something has gotten into her. Probably the same thing that got into the guy who attacked Teal'c a few hours ago.

Sam's lips are on his again, and he rolls her onto the floor. There is a second when he's on top of her where he doesn't want to stop her. He's missed her so much. God, he's missed SEX so much. But she's not in her right mind, and he would never do that to her.

"It's about time you saw a doctor, doctor," he says pulling her up.

-0-0-0-

He can't stand to see her tied down like that. It almost makes him wish that she had never brought her in.

"It will keep her from hurting herself until the sedatives take effect," Janet says, sounding a little bit apologetic herself.

"This pretty much what Johnson has?" Jack asks, suddenly needing justification. He was right in bringing her here, wasn't he?

"Oh, I'd say so, and the other members of the team. This is the strangest thing I've ever seen. C'mon, take a look," the doctor says, leading him over to rooms that look too much like prison cells for Jack's comfort. "We've converted DEFCON 1 living compartments from when this place was a missile silo into isolation chambers. You never know what you're going to bring back through the Stargate. Notice the swelling of the brow ridge? Some are even developing new follicle growth," she says looking in at Johnson.

"Any idea what's causing it?" he wants to ask the doctor if Sam is going to be ok. If there is anything that he can do to make her better.

"Wish I knew. I've got calls in to every specialist in the service, but I've got one hand tied behind my back because of the need to know classification of the Stargate Project," Janet slams the door shut, and walks to the next door. It's an alien virus, and if she doesn't figure out how to cure it, people are going to die. It's a lot of responsibility for one person. "And it's spreading. We got two more in an hour later. I've never seen a behavioral disorder like this. All the victims are acting like animals."

"You think Carter has the same thing?" he asks softly. All of these people are violent. What happened in the locker room had certainly not been gentle, and it certainly wasn't the kind of thing that Sam was usually into. But it had been a long way from the violence these people are demonstrating.

"Mm hmm, behavior fits. All the victims are behaving like primitives," Janet says.

Jack scratches the back of his neck. Right, because Carter would only be interested in him if she was basically a monkey.

Except, once in the desert, she did choose him.

Jack hates the idea of leaving Sam in the infirmary, but he has to go figure out how to solve this. He goes back to the bed where she is strapped down, and runs a hand against her cheek, "I'm going to figure this out, Carter."

-0-0-0-

Jack is staring out the glass at the Stargate. He only left the infirmary to figure out how to solve this, and now he's just cooling his heels. Maybe he should head back to the infirmary, at least until Hammond clears them to go back to that planet. He turns to go back to the infirmary.

"Jack! There you are. Got on the internet to do a little research on Australopithecus and, wow… What happened to you?" Daniel says, taken aback by his friend's injuries.

"Oh, I got into a little wrestling match with Carter," he says, hoping that his sarcasm is going to be bitter enough that Daniel wouldn't press it. Jack can't deal with the emotional part of this, not yet, or he would fall apart.

"Why?" Daniel asks pretty critically.

"I guess she's got whatever Johnson got. I had to drag her off to the infirmary," Jack says, scratching at his arms. He's really hoping that the carefully worded admission will make Daniel stop asking questions.

"What, she start a fight with you like Johnson did with Teal'c?" Daniel asks. Jack should have known, he's a linguist for cripes sake. It's pretty hard to dance around a linguist with words.

He sighs, "No, she uh, she tried to seduce me."

Daniel's eyebrows raise, "Ah… wouldn't that be a good thing?"

"Well, under normal circumstances, sure. But when it is in the public locker room, and she's like a wild animal… not so much."

"Oh," Daniel stands in silence for a second, "So are you getting back together?"

Jack turns to him, shaking his head, "I don't think that whatever just happened meant anything, believe me."

"Well, is she all right? I should go see her," Daniel says tenderly.

Jack's blood boils. A part of him knows that this is irrational. That Daniel is grieving for his wife, and isn't trying to steal Sam from him.

"Why?" Jack asks fiercely.

Daniel might be a linguist, but he isn't so great at body language. He especially misses the body language that indicates when people are interested in them, and when they are jealous.

"What do you mean 'why'? Because I care about her," Daniel says.

Jack grabs Daniel by the lapels, and grunts through his teeth, "Care about her, what does that mean?"

Daniel suddenly realizes that he's screwed. He tries to pull away, and says, "It means I care about her, she's my friend. Now let go!"

"She's not yours to care about," Jack says, wishing he could undo the barbeques where he had invited both of their teams over to their house.

Daniel just barely stops himself from pointing out that she wasn't JACK'S to care about, either. He's figured out by now that Jack has the same problem that Sam had. And he knows that if he gets into a fight with the Colonel, he's not going to come back a winner. "I'm just a friend."

"You just stay away from Samantha, ok?" Jack asks dangerously.

"Okay. Okay, Jack. I think you should come with me to the infirmary, okay? Just let go of me and… let go of my arm!" Daniel shouts. Jack lays a hard punch on them. Daniel falls back on the shelf, and crashes to the ground. Jack ignores someone shouting for a guard, and jumps on top of Daniel. He's hauled off him after a couple of seconds.

-0-0-0-

He closes his eyes. Tyler. Sam. He has to… to… He closes his eyes again. He has to focus, and the only thing he can focus on is: Tyler. Sam.

Janet comes into the cell, "Doc. Doc?" he pleads.

"Did you say something?" Janet asks, and there are too many words in the simple sentence for him to process. But she's looking at him, so he should speak now. He has to save her.

"Give more…" he grunts.

"What? Give more what?" Janet asks.

"More," he says, thrusting his arm toward her, completely annoyed that he can't find the word for exactly what he wants more of.

"An injection? You mean you want more sedative? You've already had more than the maximum safe dosage, twice as much as anyone else because you've been more violent," Janet says. But the only thing that Jack understands out of that is that she's shaking her head. She's not going to save Sam.

He grunts more loudly, "Give," he demands with all of his force.

"No. It's not safe," Janet insists. First, do no harm. Even if there is an alien virus that might just wipe the human race off the planet.

"Give! Give," Jack grunts as loudly as he can.

"Why are you so insistent?" Janet gives him the shot, and he leans back, feeling the relief. He waits for the clouds to ease from his brain a little, just a little.

"Doc!" Jack demands. She can't leave yet. She needs to stay so they can figure this out. So he can figure out how to save Sam.

"Colonel O'Neill?" Janet says, surprised that she seems to actually be talking to the second-in-command of the base.

"Me," Jack says, recognizing his own name.

Janet smiles at him, "So you are still in there somewhere."

Jack is confused. He doesn't feel like himself. He's never gotten drunk, not after his father, and he's not exactly the medication type. So the only altered state of consciousness he has ever had is a dream. "Dream? Dream?" he grunts.

"I'm afraid not, Colonel. It's very real. This is interesting. Enough sedative must knock back the primitive mind. Colonel, listen to me. I am not going to be able to keep you at this level for very long; it is too dangerous. It could cause permanent brain damage," Janet says again, using far too many words for him to process. He needs to understand what is going on. He needs to figure out how to help.

"What... What is it?" Jack asks, annoyed at how difficult it is for him to get the words out.

"It's a parasitic virus. All we can tell is that is seems to mess with body chemicals, all of them. Testosterone levels skyrocket, thus the aggressive behavior. It's histaminolytic, which means it breaks down histamine, we… w..." Janet says.

Jack still doesn't understand everything that she is saying to him, but he knows what Janet needs to do. He also knows it was something that she would only do with his permission. More than that, only something she would do if he convinces her to. "Experiment on me," he pleads.

"Experiment on you? I'm sorry, I can't do that," Janet says, shaking her head.

He looks into her eyes, "Use me." Then he pauses, and closes his eyes, "Save her."

And Janet finds herself hoping that someday, she will be loved like that.

-0-0-0-

That was a nice dream. Well, not really. Usually when she had sex dreams about Jack, the sex was exactly the same as when they had sex for real. The sex in the dream was rough, and… Jack told her no. It must be because she's worried about him rejecting her.

Then she realizes: it was not a dream.

She slams her eyes shut, and feels a tear sneak out of them.

Because Jack told her no.

-0-0-0-

Jack stands in her doorway for a while. She realized that he was there right away, but takes her sweet time to acknowledge him. She turns to him, and says, "I'm sorry, sir."

The words kick him in the gut for a second before he sees her face. "Why?"

She blinks at him, "I attacked you, Sir."

And he understands her in a flash. And he swears to himself he's never going to let another misunderstanding get between them. "Sammy," he says, moving over toward her, with a smile on his face, "Why do you think I said no?"

It's a question she doesn't want to ask herself. She shrugs.

"Sammy… I'm not big on public sex. Nor on partners whose behavior is being controlled by alien virus," he says.

She looks at him with home in her eyes, "That was it?"

"That was it," he says. He watches her relax. "I didn't know you were open to… that," he says, searching her eyes.

And she gets a smile on her face. He'd forgotten about that smile. It was glorious, because it didn't look sexual. To anyone who didn't know her, it was just a smile, barely different from her others. But he knew what it meant, and it was a yes.

"So… dinner?" he asks.

"You don't have to…" she begins, shaking her hand. She is his; he doesn't have to go through the motions with her. They are so far beyond the first date.

"Samantha, you're getting dinner," he says, "You don't have a mission Friday night, do you?"

She shakes her head.

"Do you think your dad can babysit?" he asks.

She nods.

"Ok then," he pauses, looking at her for a while, "Do we kiss at work?"

"I don't think so," she says.

"Ok, then," he says, turning to walk away.

"Jack?" she asks.

He turns to her.

"Best alien virus ever," Sam says.

"Yeah, I got to punch Daniel," he says, turning without explaining.

"What?" she asks, running after him down the hallway.


	13. Part 2 Chapter 7

**Four Days Later**

"These are beautiful flowers, dad. Thanks!" Tyler says, grabbing them out of his father's hands and running off.

Sam grabs her coat. "Dad, can you make sure that those go into water before too long?" she asks her father. He nods.

"Those were for you," Jack explains, nodding after the flowers.

"I figured. You can't really blame him. Most of the time, when you walk through that door, you do have something for the kid. This is what you get for spoiling your kid rotten." she says with a grin, "He's right, they're beautiful."

He puts her hand on her back as he guides her to the car. All the parts of them in contact feel like they are on fire, in the most amazing way.

As soon as Jack puts the key into the ignition, opera music comes on. "Ah… you can change the station to whatever you want."

"You like opera music?" she asks tilting her head at him.

He shrugs.

"That's so sweet!" he says.

"I've got a tip for you Carter; Colonels don't like to be called 'sweet'."

"Huh, noted. I've got a tip for you… girls like it when you learn their first name," she teases back.

"I know your name, Samantha, I just prefer Carter," he responds.

"Well, don't, because I share that name with my father, and your son. And when you say my name, I want there to be no doubt that you're only thinking of me," She says.

"Trust me, they don't enter my mind when I look at you," he says with a grin.

She fidgets so softly that most people probably wouldn't have even picked up on it, but Jack notices. "What?"

"It's just… if we didn't have a kid, would we still be here right now?" Sam asks.

"Oh, God, Sammy, yes. I love that kid with all of my heart. And let me assure you I would be in his life no matter what. But this, tonight, it's not about Tyler."

Sam smiles, "Ditto."

Jack gently reaches over and touches her arm. He runs a hand down his arm. He traces the lines on her palm again. She's on the other side of him now, so it's the other hand. This hand is different. The life line is shorter, but only by a bit. The love line is just as deep, but longer, and it has a break in the middle.

He holds her hand in his, and turns to her to share a quick smile.

"I've missed the way you always have to tickle my hand before you can hold it," she whispers.

"I've missed the way…" but the thoughts all jumble over each other in his head.

Sam resists the urge to tease him. She knows this relationship is too new for that. "Hey, it's ok," she says, giving his hand a squeeze.

"I missed the way you don't care if I share less than you. I missed the way you bite the edge of your lips whenever you get confused, which is much more likely to happen in a conversation than a physics problem. I missed the way you giggle whenever I flirt. And I missed the way you look at me. I just missed you, Samantha."

Sam feels like her chest is going to explode, "Jack," is the only response she can get out.

"You look really nice," he says after a few seconds of silence.

"You do, too," Sam says. And Jack does look nice in dress clothes. But it's nothing like he looked in his Class As. Or in her all-time favorite outfit for him; tight jeans, white t-shirt, and a leather jacket.

"Hey, in Iraq, you said you had a motorcycle," Jack says.

"Yeah… I sold it when I was pregnant," she says.

"Why?" he asks.

"Because mothers don't go around riding motorcycles," she says.

"Not going to lie, that's a little disappointing," he says, giving her a quick glance.

"Jack?" she pauses, "Did you have anything to do with my getting command of SG-2?"

"I mentioned you be good for it before Charlie got it, but that's it, Carter. I wouldn't ever… influence you career because of personal things."

"I appreciate that," she says in an almost-whisper.

Jack has pulled up in front of a fancy restaurant. A really fancy restaurant. "Jack," Sam says, gasping his breath into her mouth.

He turns to her, grinning at the sound.

"This place is really nice."

"Yeah," he says slowly.

"I just never pictured…" she says, stopping quickly when she realizes that she is bound to offend him.

"What, did you think I was going to take you to the SGC mess hall?" he asks.

"Not exactly. It's just… we never really dated, did we?" she asks, stunned.

"Ah… and you were going to skip this date," he reminds her, opening up the door. He walks around the car, and holds his hand up to her when she steps down. But in the time that he was out of the car, Sam has begun to panic.

"I've never really done this," she quickly confesses.

"Sammy, if you'd rather leave and go spend time with our kid, or watch the stars on my roof, or hell, have dinner at the freaking officer mess, that's fine. But they have dancing in there, and I know how you love to dance," he says, holding his hand out for her.

She takes it with a smile. As soon as she's out of the truck, she leans forward to capture his mouth in a kiss. It's the first time that they've kissed in four years, but their lips remember each other. It's a few minutes before they pull away. He runs a hand slowly over her face, "Sammy."

"Let's go eat, and dance."

-0-0-0-

The slow walk to the front porch finally ends. They kiss gently, and then Jack takes a step back.

Sam grabs onto his lapels, "Where are you going, flyboy?" she whispers.

"Home," Jack says.

"Come in," Sam says.

"Just because we decided that we were going to have sex, doesn't mean we have to do it on our first date," he says.

"Jack, this is far from our first date, and it's been four years," Sam blurts. Then she blushes, "I mean for me, at least."

"It's been four years," he assures her, and she smiles at this.

"I've missed it," Sam says.

"Me?" he asks confused.

"That too, but… you in certain contexts," she says, blushing.

Jack pulls open the screen door.

"Me, too."

-0-0-0-

The bed seems enormous. Before, they had shared a small cot. Now, a queen sized bed seems expansive. Jack scoots over, invading Sam's side of the bed. Her fingers reach across the expanse, and begin to explore the familiar territory.

Suddenly they withdraw. "Sorry," Sam says, shocked at her own actions. She can't do this. Last time… he left. What if he does it again? This time it won't only be her that gets hurt. I will be her son, as well. "I ask you to come up here, and then change my mind. I'm sorry… I don't mean to be a tease."

"It's ok. Just… what happened?" Jack asks.

Sam doesn't say anything for a few seconds.

"Sammy?" he asks, touching her face.

"I… started to worry that you were going to…." Sam says.

"Wham, bam, thank you ma'am?" he asks.

She nods, laughing at how ridiculous it was.

"C'mere," he says, pulling her close. She's snuggled against his chest in the same way that they slept all the nights in the desert.

"Jack, you have to go home, before we fall asleep," Sam mutters after a few minutes.

"Ok, how exactly would my leaving after we decided we're not having sex get rid of your fears?" he asks.

"Jack, our son is in the house. My father is in the house. I wasn't exactly planning on having you stay for breakfast," Sam says.

He reaches over to her alarm clock, "What time does dad get up?"

Sam giggles at him calling her father dad. "Jack, you don't have to stay."

"He's former military, so he probably gets up early. But five o'clock? Is that early enough?" Jack says.

"You seriously want to hold me all night, and then sneak out in the wee hours of the morning?" she asks.

"Yeah, I do," he says snuggling back into bed next to her.

Her body finds all the places in his body where they fit together. She waits for the feeling of peace to come over her again, like it did back in the war.

But the truth is, you can still believe in peace when you have seen war or when your mother has been taken from you. But after you have seen your baby lying in a hospital bed, bruised and broken, heard him scream in pain and fear, then you can't really believe in peace anymore.

**Early the Next Morning**

"Sammy… sweetie, I'm leaving now," he says kissing her forehead.

She smiles up at him.

"I hated to wake you, but I figured that if I didn't…" he says, not sure how to put the thought into words.

"I'm glad you did," she says, smiling up at him.

"I'm not leaving you, Sammy; I'm just leaving," he says.

"You're coming over this afternoon for Ty?" she asks.

"For my family," he gently corrects, "Yeah."

Jack walks down the hallway as quietly as he can. The bathroom door opens.

Jacob has a bemused smile on his face, "Jack," he says with the tone of voice you use when meeting a colleague in the hallway. Not a man sneaking out of your daughter's room in the wee hours of the morning.

"Sir, I can explain…" Jack says.

"Jack, I don't need details."

"Nothing happened," Jack says quickly.

"Jack, you don't have to sneak out of her room because of me," Jacob says with eyebrows raised.

"Ty," Jack says softly.

"Ok, I just didn't want to be the reason," Jacob says, smiling at the younger man.

**The Next Day**

"Love you, bud," Jack says, kissing his son's forehead the next night.

Sam leans forward and gives him a light kiss on the cheek. They are almost out of the door when Tyler says, "There is a monster under the bed."

"Really!" Jack exclaims diving to the floor, and scurrying under the bed with the speed of a black ops officer. "Where, son? Where?"

Tyler sticks his head under the bed, and points. Jack throws wild punches under the bed in that direction, causing Tyler to erupt into giggles.

"Did I get him?" he asks, turning back to Tyler.

"Yeah, can't you see him?" Tyler asks.

"No, there wouldn't be any monsters if adults could see them. Only kids can see them. So, if they come back, you just call them in, or fight them off yourself."

"But monsters are too scary, dad," Tyler complains.

"Oh, no, if they were really scary, they would take on adults, wouldn't they? But they are such chickens that they only deal with children. And you… you could beat up a monster, easy. But if you don't want to, call us in, and we can," Jack says, scooting out from under the bed.

"Thanks, Daddy," Tyler says.

Jack ruffles his son's hair on the way out of the room. Sam closes the door behind them, and takes Jack's hand. She pulls Jack into her room.

"Your dad saw me yesterday morning," Jack tells her. They haven't been alone since then.

"What did he say to you?" she asks. concerned.

"Ah… just shy of a blessing, Carter," he says.

"Really?" she asks.

"Yeah. So what time does the kid wake up? Can I sleep in a bit more tomorrow morning?" Jack asks, turning to the alarm.

"It's already set."


	14. Part 2 Chapter 8

**The Next Night**

No-one told Jack before he became special ops that it meant you never slept again, not really. You rested. You closed your eyes. You even dreamed. But you never lost touch with the world in the complete way he had before his training.

So he knows the second Sam's nightmare begins. He wakes up and pulls her closer to him. He rubs her back and kisses her temple.

She goes rigid, and her eyes open wide. She struggles to get away from him, like he's strangling her. So he moves away from her. Sam jumps out of bed, and starts running. Jack isn't sure exactly how awake she is, so he follows her to protect her.

She runs into her son's room, and pulls his arm out of the blanket. She feels it from the armpit to the wrist. She breathes a sigh of relief, and she pulls the blankets around him again. She kisses his forehead, and then lies next to him.

"Sammy?" Jack asks, his gut wrenching at this action. He's seen stuff like this before. This is what people do when they've undergone trauma.

"It's ok, Jack, you can go home," Sam whispers, smoothing her son's hair.

"Sam, you're not going to sleep here all night, are you? What will he think?" Jack asks.

Sam swallows hard, "I've done it before. I just tell him that he had a nightmare."

"But they're not his nightmares, Sam. Parents are supposed to comfort their children, not the other way around."

She stares at him with her bottom lip quivering.

"Let me comfort you," he says.

"You're going to take him from me," she says, staring at him.

His gut lurches, and he shakes his head, "Sammy, whatever this is, we can't do it in Ty's room."

She nods her head, and gives her son a hug firm enough that he stirs. But he never fully wakes. As soon as Sam is out of his bed Jack wraps his arms around her. They walk back to Sam's bedroom. Sam walks into the closet, and takes out a folder.

"Ty's medical records, from when he was sixteen months old," she says, handing to him.

"Was he sick?" Jack asks.

She shakes her head.

Jack opens up the file, and reads. He's confused; bruises, lacerations, malnutrition, a broken arm... suspected child abuse?

"No, you wouldn't do that," he says, still confused.

She's sobbing.

"No, you did not starve and hit that little boy. No way! Samantha, you love him. You need to tell me what is going on," he says.

"I'm at work one day, and I get the call. My baby boy is in the hospital. So, I drive down there, and I can see Tyler in the hospital room, screaming. He's crying for all he's worth, and there are three nurses holding him down so they can put the stupid cast on his arm. And I try to go in there, try to comfort him. And they won't let me. And the social worker comes, and starts asking me questions," Sam starts.

"You weren't even there," Jack says, even more confused. The only person she lets watch Ty is Jacob, and he can't believe that Jacob did this any more than Sam did.

"No, but I hired her," Sam sobs.

Jack takes her into his arms. Now it makes sense. This is obviously WHY she doesn't let anyone watch him except for Jacob and himself. "It's not your fault, Samantha. It's not your fault."

She pulls away, and shakes her head at him. "Three months, Jack. Before I hired her, he was potty trained, walking and talking. And it wasn't just a couple of words either. It was advanced for a kid his age. What kind of mother doesn't notice…" she begins.

"Lots of things can cause a loss of skills. There is no way you could have known why it happened," he says gently.

"But how can a mother not realize that someone has been starving her baby for three months? I mean, I would get home, and feed him, and he would eat so much. I would tease him, call him the applesauce monster or whatever he was eating. And for three months, that was the only food the kid got. She'd come when I was getting ready for work in the morning. She was supposed to feed him breakfast and lunch."

Jack closes his eyes, suddenly wishing for a time machine he could use to drop back in time to feed his son.

"The… arm," he asks.

It takes Sam three tries to get a word out of her mouth, and that is only for the first one. "She… threw him… against the wall, because he dirtied a diaper," she sobs.

"I assume this… I can't think of a word bad enough for her… she's in jail, right?" Jack asks.

"Probation," Sam says shaking her head, "She did some time right after. When she got out, Dad helped me alert people, so she'll never get another job working with kids," Sam says.

Jack closes his eyes, "Sam… are there any permanent effects?"

"He doesn't remember it. I mean, he doesn't even know," she says.

"That's probably for the best. I can't imagine how to explain to some kid that someone who was supposed to protect him hurt him on purpose," Jack says.

"He has a lot of cavities from the malnutrition."

"Well, they are baby teeth."

"He was small for a long time, but his body rate was back in the normal range a year later. They say there could be… a decrease in mental ability."

"Well, I think we're safe there. Tyler's smart, Sammy," Jack says with a hint of pride.

"I know, but I wonder… how smart would he have been if none of this had ever happened to him?" Sam asks.

He pulls her into his arms again, and rubs her back. "He was screaming for me," she says tearfully.

"He's got you now," Jack says.

Sam pulls away, "The social workers said that it's not my fault, but I hired her, Jack. I left my baby with her for three months, and I never noticed that she was HURTING him. If you were there, Jack, maybe you would have known. Maybe you would have saved him."

"The only difference would be I would be in jail for murdering that ass who laid a hand on my son," Jack says.

"Don't think that I didn't consider it," Say says, completely seriously.

"Samantha, seriously, you're a good mother, and this wasn't your fault. I would never take him away from you," he says, handing the folder back to her.

She throws it on the dresser, and sits back down the bed. He lies down and wraps his arms around her. She still doesn't feel safe, but at least now there isn't a giant secret between them.

Jack doesn't fall asleep, though. An hour after of holding Sam, he does exactly what he told her not to, and stares at his son in bed for a little bit. "I didn't know the monsters were real, buddy," he whispers, before going into the kitchen.

As Jack flicks on the light, he sees Jacob sitting in the darkness, drinking a glass of orange juice. "I'm sorry," Jack says, moving to leave.

"Please, stay," Jacob says. He swirls the orange juice around in the cup. "You know, I never used to like this stuff. We never kept it around in the house when the kids were growing up. Then when Sam came to live with me, back when she was pregnant with Tyler, she craved the stuff." He laughs, "They talk about pickles and ice cream, with Sam it was orange juice with ice cream. Usually in the same glass."

Jack smiles.

"Funny, I started drinking the stuff, and I never stopped. Families are complicated, Jack. They are a combination of the habits, temperaments, likes, dislikes, and habits of a group of people. They're an organic thing, they grow."

"I wish I had there to bring her orange juice," Jack says.

"Maybe next time," Jacob says with a smirk.

Jack smiles, "She told me about what happened with Tyler," Jack says seriously.

Jacob nods, "I knew she would. I retired that next day. If I'd done that when Ty was born…"

"It wasn't your fault," Jack says.

"Maybe not, but I still could have saved him," Jacob pauses, "I didn't know they made casts that small."

"They shouldn't have to," Jack says.

"Ain't that the truth," Jacob says. There is a long pause, "Samantha thinks you're going to take that baby away from us, but you aren't going to, are you, Jack?" the voice is almost pleading.

"No, I don't think I could if I wanted to, and I don't want to," Jack says.

"That's good, because families; they're organic things," Jacob says.

Jack doesn't understand what he means by this phrase that he's repeated twice, until he opens up the fridge. There is a six-pack of Guinness in there, and Guinness is not Jacob's brand.

Jack takes one out, even though he didn't really want to drink right then. He pops it open, and has a sip.

He knows he's a Carter now.

**Two Nights Later**

"Mommy! Time to get up!" Ty says, jumping between his two parents. He stares at his dad in surprise, "Daddy? Were you here all night?"

"Yeah, Mommy and I had a sleepover party," he says quickly, looking at Sam for advice.

"Oh," Ty says with a shrug, "Next time, can you sleep in my room?"

"Ty, you only have a bed for one person, and I have room for two," Sam says, hoping that logic will win out.

"How come Daddy doesn't get his own room? I bet if he got his own room, he'd have more sleepovers."

Jack giggles to himself, thinking that it wasn't likely. "You know what kid, I like having your mom as a roommate."

"If I let you have my room, would you stay forever?" Ty asks.

Jack looks at him, "How about this, I stay forever anyway?"

Ty bounces on the bed.

"I'm still going to go home sometimes. But I'll be here. I'll try to be here every time your mom isn't, and other times too. Not all the time, but I'll always be there when you need me."

"Ok," Ty says, "I want waffles."

"Waffles it is," Jack says.

Sam starts to follow them.

"Sit down, Samantha, your boys are bringing you waffles in bed."

**A Week Later**

"O'Neill, are you mated?" the mayor asks as they walk into some harvest festival.

"Ah… I'm with someone, and we have a son."

"Is your son your wife's or yours?" the man asks.

"Both of ours," Jack says, too confused by the strange question to correct the man's assumption.

"Of course, but which one of you bore him?" the man asks.

"My wife," Jack says trying not to stare at him.

"I bore the children first in my marriage, twin girls," the man says with a smile, "My wife is expecting our third."

"I'm sorry, did you just say that you were pregnant?" Jack asks the man, trying to keep his chin from dropping to the floor.

"In your culture, you have not yet discovered the rights of equality?" the man asks.

"What?" Jack asks.

"The ability of men to bear young, it has not known among your people?" the man presses.

"Ah… no," Jack says, trying not to look shocked.

"How old is your boy?" the man asks.

Jack is grateful for the change in conversation, "Three," he says proudly.


	15. Part 2 Chapter 9

**Sort of spoilers for "Secrets"****,**** although that doesn't happen in this chapter.**

**A Week Later**

Jack has started spending every night that Sam is gone, as well as many those Sam was there for, at their house. That way Ty, has a parent and a grandpa with him every night.

Jack's black ops training allows him to hear the very first sob in the night. His heart practically breaks at the sound.

He gets up, and goes to his son's room. "What's wrong, bud?"

"I'm sorry, Daddy," Ty asks, looking just a little bit terrified.

"Honey, it's ok. Just tell me what happened," Jack says, moving closer to the boy.

"I was sick," the kid says.

"Did you throw up?" Jack asks, looking around.

"No, but that's why it happened, I was sick," Ty says.

And then Jack sees that the bed is wet. "It's ok, bud." He reaches up his hand to feel his son's forehead. Ty flinches.

Jack has a sharp intake of breath. "Honey, I'm not mad at you. And I would never hit you. I was just trying to find out if you had a fever."

Ty nods, and Jack lifts his hand up to the boy's forehead again. "You do feel warm. Next time something like this happens, you wake mommy or grandpa or I up, ok? Ty, can you take you clothes off, and go wait in the bathroom? I'll get you some medicine, and then you can take a bath to get cleaned up."

-0-0-0-

"Daddy, don't leave me," Ty says, stretching out his hand desperately to his father from his spot on Sam's bed. After he had a bath and some fresh clothes, Jack had put him on the clean bed.

"Ty, it's ok, I'm just going to put the bedding in the laundry, and then we'll take your temp," Jack says soothingly.

"Daddy, I don't feel good," Ty whines.

"I know sweetie, can you tell me exactly what is wrong?" Jack asks, sitting down next to his son.

"I just feel all… sick," the kid whines.

"Does your stomach hurt, or your head, or anything?" Jack asks.

Ty shakes his head.

"Ok, I'll be right back," he assures his son.

-0-0-0-

"Daddy," Ty whimpers, almost asleep. Jack can feel his son's flesh, nearly on fire against his own. Jack adjusts the cold wet washcloth as Ty moves. Then Ty starts shaking with chills.

"Daddy, cold," he shivers.

"I'll be right back," Jack says, pulling a blanket over his son. He knows that probably isn't the best idea for a kid with a fever, but he doesn't really care right now. His son isn't comfortable, and he needs to fix that.

"Jacob," Jack says, knocking on the man's door.

There is a shuffling inside before the man comes to the door, "What's wrong, Jack?"

"Ty's sick. I'm sorry to wake you, I'm probably worrying about nothing. But how high does a temperature have to be before you take a kid to the emergency room?" Jack asks.

Jacob practically runs into Ty's room. He's confused to see it empty, void of even sheets on the bedding. "He's in Sam's room."

Jacob nods, and enters the room. He looks at his grandson shivering under the blankets. "Did you take his temperature?"

"103."

"Any other symptoms?" Jacob asks.

"He, ah… wet the bed, but he said that nothing hurt," Jack says.

"He's going to be all right," Jacob says, breathing a little sigh of relief himself. "We'll just have to keep an eye on the fever, and make sure that it doesn't go any higher. And we should get those blankets off him. That's only going to heat him up even more."

"I know, I just didn't have the heart. He said he's cold," Jack explains.

"Buddy," Jacob says softly, "Buddy, we've got to come out of the blankets. It will make you feel better."

"Sorry, Grandpa," Ty says, allowing his grandpa to lift him out of the blankets.

"He, ah… thought he was going to get in trouble for earlier," Jack explains.

"Oh, baby," Jacob says with something catching in his throat. "I'll go fix your bed up, and get you back to bed."

"I want to stay with Daddy," Ty whines.

"That's fine, Buddy," Jack says, laying down and allowing the boy to wrap himself around him.

"Do either of you need anything before I go back to bed?" Jacob asks.

"No, sorry I woke you," Jack says a bit bashfully.

"No problem, Jack. You did the right thing, you had to make sure that our boy was fine," Jacob says.

**The Next Day**

"Jack, you don't have a mission tomorrow, do you?" Jacob asks him when Sam goes upstairs to give Ty a bath.

"No, and I don't have too much to do at work, so I'll probably be home around four, four-thirty, why?" Jack asks.

"Ah… I was wondering if you could watch Ty for an hour over noon," Jacob looks up hopefully.

"Sure, Jake, any time," Jack says. He looks at the man who is going to be his father in law, and detects there some worry that he doesn't understand. "Any particular reason?"

"Just an appointment," Jacob says, going off to bed.

**The Next Day**

The next day, Jacob doesn't mention anything about where he has been, even though he has plenty of opportunity, Sam isn't around. But when Jack leaves Ty's room at the end of the night, he sees Jacob standing in the hall.

"Jack, could you take Ty to the base daycare tomorrow?" Jacob asks, not looking at the younger man.

"Daycare?" Jack says.

"And I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention this to Sam," Jack says softly.

"Jacob, you've given a lot of your life to this kid. I don't begrudge you days off, but I feel like there is something going on here. Are you ok?"

Jacob sighs, "Why don't we go sit down?"

They sit in the living room for a long moment of silence before Jacob says, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't share any of this with my daughter."

Jack nods.

"I have some doctor's appointments. I don't know much right now. I'm getting more testing tomorrow," Jacob says.

Jack swallows hard. "What is it?"

"Cancer, Jack, they're saying cancer, but I don't yet know what kind," Jacob says.

"Oh, God, Dad," Jack says. The 'dad' is a slip of the tongue that hasn't passed Jack's lips in four decades. "I think Ty should start going to day care every day. He's safe there."

"Jack, I love my grandson. I want to spend time with him even more than I did before. I just need for him to go to day care every now and again when I have an appointment," Jacob says.

"Ok, but if you're ever feeling tired or sick…" Jack says.

Jacob nods his head by way of consent.

"And I'll vouch you on base any time you need to drop him off in the middle of the day. If I'm off… out of the country, you can ask Hammond to do it if you don't want Sam to know." Jack pauses, "Why exactly don't you want Sam to know?"

Jacob pauses, not having really considered the reason for this himself. When he answers it is nearly in the form of a whisper. "Because… you want to protect your kids from pain," Jacob says simply.

**The Next Day**

"Mommy, look what Emma gave me!" Ty proclaims, holding up his arm for his mother to see the friendship bracelet which is adorning his wrist.

"That's beautiful, honey. Who is Emma?" Sam replies.

Ty's eyes get big, "Oopsy!" he says before running off.

Sam's stomach turns with a thousand imaginary worries, "Ty!" she calls, running after him. When she catches up with him, his head is under his bed, ostrich-style with his tiny bum in the air.

She sticks her head under the bed with him, too, "Sweetie, you should never keep secrets from your Mommy."

"But Daddy said I could have ice cream if I didn't tell," Ty protests.

Now Sam has a whole new crop of fears. Is Jack cheating on her? "I'll give you an ice cream if you tell me what Daddy was doing with Emma."

"Daddy didn't even meet her. Her daddy picked her up before Daddy came to get me," Ty says.

And then Sam remembers, "Emma is your friend from daycare?"

Ty nods his head, "Can I have ice cream now?"

Sam nods her head as they slide out from under the beds, and make their way to the living room, "Sweetie, have you gone to daycare every day you're not with Mommy?"

"No, just once," Ty says.

The anger that Sam had been feeling quickly dissipates.

"Did Daddy tell you why you were going to day care?" she asks.

"So I can get ice cream," the kid says in a tone of voice that clearly implies he thinks his mother is more than a little bit dense.

After Jack comes home, Sam waits all afternoon thinking that Jack is going to bring up the reason he left his kid at day care. Neither Jack nor her father are in a particularly talkative mood. But by the time they get into bed, he still hasn't brought it up.

Hey, it's just once. He'll tell her if it's really important.

**One Week Later**

Jack jumps out of bed, and dashes for the bathroom. It's already occupied by Jacob Carter, and by the sounds of it he's doing exactly what Jack needs to do. Jack pulls the trash can over to him just in time.

As Jacob stops retching, he says, "I haven't had a puke pal since the Academy. Are you ok, Jack?"

"I should be asking you that, Jacob," Jack says softly, looking at the older man. Jacob has been doing doses of both chemo and radiation for the last couple of days, and this is not the first time Jack's helped him through his sickness. Honestly, Jack can't figure out how Sam hasn't figured it out yet.

"I'm fine," Jacob says, but the way he's leaning against the wall obviously turns his words into a lie.

Jack stands up, and wets a cold wash cloth which he places on the older man's neck, "Is there anything I can do?"

Jacob shakes his head.

Sam walks into the bathroom to see the two men sitting on the floor. "What happened?" she asks. Then she sees the evidence in the trash can.

"Which one of you was sick?" she asks.

"Me," Jack says. And it's not a lie, he was the one who was sick in the trash can.

"Come on, Jack, let's get you back to bed. I'll call work to tell them that you can't come into work today," Sam says.

"No, I'm fine," Jack says. He's taken off several hours of work in the past few days to be with Jacob during his treatments. He doesn't want to miss any more time, he might need more time off before Jacob's sickness is over.

"I think that might be a good plan," Jacob says.

Then Jack remembers that Jacob has an appointment today, and besides, it looks like Jacob is going to be too sick to take care of a kid.

"Mommy?" a little voice says.

Sam looks between the trash can and the kid. "I've got him," Jack says.

"No, I don't want you to get him sick. Can you, dad?" Sam asks.

And then Jack knows why Sam doesn't know yet. Jacob pulls himself off the floor, and looks like he is really fine, "Of course."

-0-0-0-

"No, I'll be coming into work day, its Colonel O'Neill that is going to be gone," Sam informs the officer on the phone.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but Colonel O'Neill already asked for the morning off. He's been asking for either the morning or the afternoon off quite often for weeks now."

"Ok, well, he won't be coming in this afternoon," Sam says, puzzled by this conversation.

She stares at the phone after she hangs it up.

"Mommy, Daddy is helping Grandpa, are you going to take me to day care?" Tyler asks.

"I'm going to go talk to Daddy, can you watch TV?" she asks.

"I don't want to," Ty says stubbornly.

"Why not?" Sam says in surprise.

"'Cause the only time I get to watch TV without asking is when Daddy is in trouble," Ty says looking sad.

Sam smiles, "He's not in trouble this time. He's just sick."

"'Kay, you make him feel better?" Ty asks.

Sam smiles although she doesn't really have that intention in her mind at that particular moment. She heads up the stairs.

-0-0-0-

"Sir, several of your teammates have complained about, ah… strange symptoms that I think might be related to a recent mission. Have you been experiencing anything unusual?" Janet is at that moment asking Jack on his cell phone.

"We haven't really been on any recent missions. The last one was a couple of weeks ago. But I did throw up this morning," Jack says.

There is such a long pause on the phone that Jack asks, "Ah, doc, are you still there?"

"Yes I am Jack, I think you'd better come in right away," she says.

"I'm sure it's just the stomach flu or something," Jack defends quickly, "Is it the same thing the other guys have?"

"No, actually it's not, and that's kind of the problem, sir. Look, this is really not the sort of thing I can explain over an unsecured line. Actually, I'm going to have quite a bit of trouble explaining it to you when you're right in front of me."

Jack closes his eyes, "How bad is this? Because I've been around someone whose immune system is compromised by chemo and radiation." He is never going to forgive himself if he ended up putting Jacob at greater risk.

"Don't worry, sir, this doesn't appear to be contagious."

-0-0-0-

"So, I called work for you," she says.

"Yeah," he says, searching her face, obviously trying to figure out if his secret has been revealed yet.

"Yeah, they mentioned that you have been gone quite a bit lately. Tyler mentioned that he's been in daycare, too. Jack, I didn't go looking for you. Ty and me, we were fine before. You don't have to take care of him if you don't want to, what pisses me off is that you are lying about it. Jack, if you want out of this relationship, just man up and say it!" Sam meant to get through the whole speech without tears, but she failed in this task.

He takes her into his arms, "Sam, that is not what is going on."

She pushes him away, "I need an explanation!"

"Ok, look, I've been helping someone out. This person asked me not to tell anyone what was going on in their lives, and I've been respecting their wishes. Ty has not been in daycare that much, and never when I was at home. He's actually gotten more time with me, because of the time I've been taking off work. And the daycare has cameras on it 24/7, Samantha. Your father or I have watched any time your son has been there in fast-forward."

Sam looks up at him, "Ok, and you'd tell me if you could?"

He nods, "I promise. Turns out I need to go into work though. My team is sick in the infirmary. It's not contagious, but they want to check me out. I'm going to drop Ty of in daycare on the way."

"Dad can take care of him," Sam says with ease.

Jack tries to think of a response, but in the silence, Sam realizes the truth. She nearly collapses, and Jack catches her once again in his strong hands.

"What's wrong with him? What does he have?" she pleads desperately.

"Samantha, he asked me not to tell you."

"I don't care! He's my dad, and he's sick!" Sam practically shouts.

Jacob walks into the room, and when her eyes turns to him, she can't believe he didn't notice her father was sick.

"Cancer, Sammy," he says.

"Oh, God, Dad," she moans as she walks over to take him into her arms.

"Sammy, it's not over. I'm fighting his thing," he says.

"Sam, now that you know, Jacob has a treatment today…" Jack begins.

"Jack, I've already told you that I don't need someone to babysit me at those appointments. All I have to do is sit there," Jacob protests.

"I've got him and Ty, I'll see you later," Sam says, giving Jack a quick kiss.

**Note: Jacob's illness appears sooner ****than ****in the series. That's because the way I'm going to save Jacob Carter in this series is by early diagnosis, chemo and radiation. I don't know how early it was caught in the series. But in this story they find it much earlier, which can sometimes make all the difference in the world.**


	16. Part 2 Chapter 10

Daniel's voice greets Jack right when he gets off the elevator. "Where is my freaking heating pad?"

Jack hears Daniel's voice again as he nears the infirmary, "My God, this is the worst pain I have ever endured!"

"It is not," Teal'c says.

"Actually I think it is," Ferretti argues.

"When exactly have you experienced worse pain than this?" Daniel asks Teal'c incredulously.

There is a long pause, and Jack has to stop just outside of the infirmary or interrupt something that he is guessing is going to be pretty funny.

"I have experienced pain worse than this on 216 occasions," Teal'c replies.

"Two hundred and sixteen times?" Feretti asks.

"Indeed."

"You're telling me that 216 times you've felt pain that is worse than a badger burrowing its way out of your entrails?" Daniel asks.

"Indeed," Teal'c replies.

Ok, Jack finds himself hoping that was not literal. He rounds the corner, and is greeted by something he never thought he'd see. His team is watching a chick flick. Hey, are there people standing on the Empire state building? That looks like something Sam would really enjoy, he thinks to himself. It's like that affair movie she made him watch. They all have heating pads spread across their stomach, and Daniel has a kleenex bawled up in one hand, and a bag of Hershey's Kisses in the other.

What kind of illness is this?

"Jack, oh my gosh, have a chocolate. I didn't believe they would actually help, I thought girls made that crap up. But it works! Thank God Janet has them on hand," Daniel says, holding the bag out to him.

"What exactly is going on here?" Jack asks.

"Those damn people on P3-Menstrual-X gave us periods," Ferretti informs him.

Suddenly Jack's eyes go wide, and he takes a few steps back.

"It is nothing to worry about, O'Neill, General Hammond authorized a mission through the gate to figure out how to reverse the process. Meanwhile, Doctor Fraiser has provided us with means by which to counteract the effects of the shedding of the lining of the uterus," Teal'c says.

"I do not have a uterus!" Daniel protests.

"The scan conducted by Doctor Fraiser proves otherwise, Doctor Jackson," Teal'c says while adjusting his heating pad. Yep, even the great Teal'c was brought down my Auntie Flo.

"Jack, the good doc's got stuff stronger than chocolate. Did you know they made pills just for this?" Feretti says in awe. "Hey, doc, we need some more of those sweet pills you gave us."

"Honestly boys, I have never experienced such whining!" Janet begins before she turns around. As soon as her eyes catch on Jack's she knows he's freaking out.

"Just exactly how FUNTIONAL are these extra freaking body parts?" Jack bellows.

"I'm not sure. I'll know a lot more if you'll just come with me," Janet says calmly.

Jack takes a few steps toward the door.

"Sir, where are you going?" Janet asks.

"I'm going to go kick the ass of the people who messed with my body and got me PREGNANT!" he screams.

The entire infirmary turn to stare at him.

"We don't know that you are, sir. For all we know, they never gave the stuff to you, or you're going to start… experiencing symptoms tomorrow. The nausea could just be a coincidence."

"How? I mean… where did the egg come from, for crying out loud?" he protests.

"I don't know. Sir, I don't understand the biology of what we are dealing with any more than you do. If you could just calm yourself down, I could do the scan that would give us the beginning of some answers," Janet says.

"He's pregnant?" Daniel asks. "I really need to stop complaining."

"But you won't," Janet points out.

-0-0-0-

Jack is relieved as he looks at the monitor, which he thinks is blank. "All right, so maybe I didn't get the symptoms because my brand new lady business is defective, or hey, maybe it's age, right? I'm probably too old to deal what the boys in there are dealing with."

"Sir," Janet says, using her finger to point to a tiny dot on the screen, "That right there… is your baby."

"No," Jack informs her.

"Sir," she says, looking at him.

"Is it Sam's?" Jack asks.

"Again, I don't really know how this works. Hopefully when the team that the General sent out comes back we will have a few more answers.

"It's got to be, I mean, the way they talked when we were there, it sounded as if the babies were both the mother's and the father's. They wouldn't go through all of this just to have a baby that was pretty much a clone, would they?"

She shrugs.

"Well, is it healthy? I mean… it can't just stay in there and grow, can it?" Jack asks.

"Sir, from what I saw of the other boys, the system does seem to be entirely functional. Apart from the birth part, with which you would need some help, of course. But it appears that you now have two entirely functional reproductive systems. I would like to do some more tests. A blood test to make sure that your hormone levels are what they should be for a pregnant woman. Otherwise, we might have to use supplements. I'd also like to do an amniocentesis when you are another two or so months along. That will tell us what DNA the kid has. It will even tell us who supplied the egg, because of mitochondrial DNA."

"Whatever you need, doc," Jack says with a stunned expression on his face.

Janet pats his arm softly, "Do you want me to call Sam in?"

Jack glances at the wall behind her head. There is only 30 minutes until Jacob has his treatment. Now she's probably ½ mile above his head dropping off their kid at day care. If he called her she would be here in a matter of minutes. But he couldn't do that to Jacob. Jacob really needed his daughter with him right now.

He shakes his head.

Janet draws his blood. "The baby looks healthy. You're about a month along."

"Ah… no, the planet was only two weeks ago."

"Well, the age of the fetus is measured from date of last period, not from conception, it's weird, but…" Janet begins.

"In that case Doc, I'm fifty years along."

Janet smiles.

"You really think I can do this?" Jack asks.

"Do you mean physically or emotionally, sir?" Janet asks.

Jack glares at her.

"Well, you're doing much better with your pregnancy than they're doing with their period, so you'll be fine."

"I don't know, Teal'c was pretty stoic," Jack says.

"You weren't here when he arrived. He was the first one to figure out something was wrong. You should have seen him trying to describe his symptoms."

"Big words?" Jack guesses.

"Took me about five minutes to figure out where exactly he was bleeding from, yeah."

"And then I bet menstruation wasn't exactly your first thought."

Janet laughs, "Not exactly. And about that time Daniel-the-whiner joined the crew. If you want to go out in the main room, I'll come and get you when we get the results or hear anything from the team that went out to investigate."

Jack obeys the chief medical officer's orders, even though he doesn't exactly relish the thought of going to sit down next to his men. When he does they are silent for a few seconds before Ferretti says, "Geeze, I thought I was dying when I woke up this morning bleeding. But suddenly I'm grateful for this stupid thing."

Daniel gives him a smack on the shoulder. But then, like Job's comforters, Daniel finds that he can't be silent, "I'm not sure I exactly understand the process…" he begins.

"Join the club," Jack retorts.

Jack has the sudden urge to fan his hand over his stomach. To create some connection to this thing… this baby that is growing within him. He resists the urge, though, because it's pretty hard to pretend that something isn't real after you've started bonding with it.

-0-0-0-

Sam was surprised by her Dad's chemo. She had somehow expected something more dramatic. Something more painful or sad. It was just like a blood drive, except that it took longer, and that the people had a much less healthful look to them.

She's exhausted by the time that she gets home, even though it is only three in the afternoon. Jack left a message on her phone that informed her that he'd picked up Ty. After she gets her father settled into his bedroom she starts the search for her other two boys.

She finds the two of them in her bed watching an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. It's just not the Schwarzenegger movie she'd expected to see her macho husband watching. "Is this 'Junior'?" she asks.

"Yep," Jack replies.

"Go play in your room, bud," she instructs her son, "And our son is watching this why?" Sam presses.

"We've got to get him used to the idea some way," Jack replies.

"What idea?" Sam asks confused.

"Men having babies. Turns out the doc wanted me to come to the infirmary, because all my men had their periods. But honey… I'm late," he says with something that is supposed to be levity.

She stares at him for a moment, and then starts laughing, "You just about had me, Jack. Thanks for trying to cheer me up with everything that's happening to my dad, but really, you went a bit too far."

"Samantha," he says, looking in her eyes.

She flops down on the bed next to him, "You're no kidding, you're really pregnant?"

"Yeah, it's that damn planet we were on a few weeks back," he mutters.

"I have so many questions," Sam says slowly.

"I have an off-world doctor's appointment tomorrow that might answer some, if you want to come."

"Are you safe?" she asks.

"Yeah, Hammond sent some people through to talk to the nice people who did this to me. Apparently, men on that planet have been having babies for fifty-some years."

"And the kid? I mean, it's going to be all right in there?" she asks, staring at his stomach.

Jack nods his head.

"Wow," she says.

"Yeah," he repeats, letting out a breath of air. "Sam, I'm a pregnant man, what the hell are we going to do?" Jack asks with panic in his eyes.

"Well, sweetie, I'm guessing that that the word has already got out at the SGC, so that's something. For people who don't have clearance, I'll get one of those pregnancy sympathizers, and complain about my feet. And then we'll tease you for gaining some sympathy weight. Luckily, the way men gain weight isn't that different from a pregnancy, women are different," she says thoughtfully.

He closes his eyes, "What about your father, and Ty?"

"Well, Ty wouldn't be that much of a problem. He's good at keeping secrets, and if he did blurt it out, people would think he just misunderstood a joke."

"But we can't tell him unless we tell your father," Jack says gently.

"I know," she whispers.

"He probably has enough to worry about right now."

"Jack dad's going to be excited about having another grandbaby," Sam says, looking directly into his eyes.

"You mean he's going to be excited that his daughter had two kids before she got married?" Jack asks incredulously.

Sam reaches over and puts her hand to his stomach. She only feels her husband's taunt six pack. "I seriously can't believe there is a baby in there."

"You're telling me," he whispers. And then there eyes meet, and they laugh hysterically about their situation.


	17. Part 2 Chapter 11

**The Next Day**

"Daddy, can Emma come over to our house today?" Ty asks, bouncing as his father picks him up from day care.

"My daddy said I could anytime!" a girl in a very fluffy pink princess dress says, bounding before Jack.

"How about we call him up, and see if you can come today? Who is he?" Jack asks, bowing down before the little girl.

"Henry Boyd," she says.

"Major Boyd?" Jack asks with a smile.

Emma nods.

"He's a good man," Jack says.

"I know," she says with a smile.

"I can ring him up for you, sir," the day care worker says.

"I'd appreciate that, thanks," Jack says.

-0-0-0-

"And this is my Grandpa," Ty says, continuing the tour.

"What is a Grandpa?" Emma asks.

"Well," Ty explains, "He takes care of me when Mommy and Daddy aren't here. And he's really good at stories and pancakes."

"Oh, so a grandpa is kind of like a nanny," Emma says, nodding her head, "I have a nanny, she takes care of me when Daddy goes to outer space."

"Doesn't your Mommy do that?" Ty asks.

"'Member, I don't have a Mommy just like you don't useta have a Daddy."

"Right, I forgetted," Ty says.

Jacob smiles sadly at the little girl and pulls her onto his lap, "Would you a story?"

"I get to sit on his lap," Ty says rather jealously.

"I've got two knees, little one," his grandfather says sympathetically.

**The Next Day**

Janet comes out of her office, and almost slams straight into Daniel Jackson. Daniel Jackson carrying a giant basket.

"Ah, this is probably inappropriate…" he mutters with a flush coming over his cheeks as he hands it to her.

She looks down at the basket and sees just about every kind of chocolate confection known to man. There are some movies in there, and a bottle of Midol. And… oh my gosh, a box of tampons.

"Dr. Jackson, did you make me a period basket?" she asks with a grin in her voice.

His face is now an intense color of bright red, "It's just… I didn't realize how much they sucked before. And you were so nice to us that I figured you deserved something. I mean, you go through it all the time, and don't lay down in the infirmary and whine every month."

"Well, I have to admit that I want to sometimes," Janet admits.

Daniel walks away and then turns back, "Ah… chick flicks," he blurts.

"Yeah," Janet says slowly, not sure where this is going.

"You want to go to one?" Daniel asks. Daniel has never really had friends, and much less has he dated. Sara occasionally dragged him away from his work to dinner or a movie, but it had always been her initiating it. With Sha're, he had just found himself suddenly married. Daniel isn't sure if he wants friendship or dating right now, but he figures it can start with a movie.

Sha're told him that he was supposed to be happy after her. He didn't think it was going to be possible. But maybe it is. And maybe Janet deserves happiness just as much as he does.

Janet Fraizer cannot imagine what just happened. The delectable Doctor Jackson just asked her on a date. "Yeah." Or maybe it wasn't a date, she scolds herself. Maybe they were just friends. He did just lose his wife a couple of months ago, and with the hormones still coursing through his body (though they were fading now that the people of the planet had given him a cure), they could just about qualify as girlfriends.

Daniel pulls himself into a self-hug. "When is your shift done?"

"Seven."

"See ya then?" he asks.

"Yeah," she says. She watches him walk away, and detect a slight bounce in the step she has never noticed before.

-0-0-0-

"I do not understand why you are not overjoyed by this blessed event," the mayor says as soon as they walk through the Stargate.

"This is my wife, Samantha," Jack says by way of introduction. And avoidance.

The stout man turns to her, "Did you not wish to have another child?"

"We did, we just were not expecting it yet. And when we did we expected to have it in the usual way," Sam says.

"I don't understand. Most women are delighted to let their husbands do part of the child-bearing. Is it not a lot of inconvenience and pain?" the major asks.

"Yes, but it's a little hard to explain in our world. We just don't have the technology," Sam protests.

"But childbirth this way is painless. When the time comes, the top of the artificial womb simply disintegrates," the major explains.

"Sweet, no C-section," Jack interjects.

"Painless? Are you kidding me?" Sam pouts. "Let me assure you, Jack, Ty's birth was anything but painless."

"Look, we're a little concerned about the process, about how safe it is for the baby," Jack says.

"And Jack," Sam adds.

"I assure you, it is safer than childbirth the normal way. The hormones and the artificial womb are more closely regulated. With male pregnancies, it is almost impossible to have a miscarriage unless the fetus is non-viable," the mayor says.

"You're kidding?" Sam says, looking at him.

"We have some questions about how exactly this… works," Jack says.

"Well, you can refer the more technical questions to the doctor. If you have any questions about the experience of male pregnancy, I would be the person to ask," the major says.

-0-0-0-

"Everything looks to be developing naturally. His hormone levels are as they should be. The baby is the appropriate size. I'm going to give you something for the nausea," the alien doctor says.

"Hold it, you have a cure for morning sickness?" Sam asks.

The doctor nods.

Sam turns to Jack, "If we have another kid, I am so coming here for pre-natal care."

"Ah, this kid is Sam's, right?" Jack asks.

"Oh, there is a question of maternity? You've been with women other than your wife?" the doctor says in surprise.

"God, no!" Jack exclaims. "I just don't understand how exactly… what parts came from who?"

The doctor smiles, "We call it male pregnancy, but that isn't technically accurate. Eggs must be produced before birth, and males simply don't do that."

"You don't say," Jack says sarcastically.

Sam gives him a hard elbow in the side. She doesn't want him to insult the man with answers.

"The medicine that we gave you causes a hormonal change in any women who comes into intimate contact with the man. They release an egg which is fertilized by his sperm, and absorbed by his new reproductive system during the sexual act. The child then develops there," the doctor explains.

"Like a sea horse," Sam says.

Jack stares at her.

"The female seahorse lays eggs in a pouch in the male sea horse's belly. The eggs develop there, and after the hatch they come out," she adds.

"We have a creature like that on our planet, although it is a mammal. That is where our scientists got the idea from. For many years, we implanted the eggs in the belly of the male. It is only within the last few decades that we discovered a method for it to happen more naturally. People like their babies to be born out of love, and not in a laboratory," the doctor explains.

Sam grabs Jack's hand at the word 'love'.

"Can we continue to come here for appointments? No-one on Earth is familiar with male pregnancies," Jack asks.

"Of course, you can schedule your next one at the front desk," the doctor says.

"Huh, just when you think you aren't in Kansas anymore, it turns out that you are."

**A Week Later**

"Sam, you know that I have a cabin in Minnesota, right?" Jack asked one night.

"Yeah, you talked about it a lot when you were in Iraq. It's always kind of been your 'real' home, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, when Mom left dad we ran out of money in this small town in Minnesota. This couple let us stay at this cabin they rented out. We couldn't pay for the first couple of months. It took mom years to pay them back for that. They died when I was at college, and they left it to me. They were the closest things I've ever had to grandparents," Jack says.

"Does your mom still live there?" Sam asks.

"No, it's way out in the country. Mom doesn't like to drive that much anymore, so she got a little apartment in town. But she still lives in the same town," Jack confesses.

"That's nice," Sam says.

"Would you ever want to go to my cabin?" Jack asks, looking incredibly self-conscious.

"Sure, I'd love to someday."

"How about next weekend?" Jack blurts.

"Next weekend? Isn't that kind of sudden? I mean, we'd have to look into getting time off of work, and I'd have to see if my dad could babysit. There is a lot of prep work that I would have to do," she says.

"Ah… Hammond gave us a go, and I was thinking of taking Dad and Ty along. Not that I wouldn't love to have a romantic weekend get away with you, but the cabin is kind of a family thing," Jack stammers.

"Wow, you did all the thinking for me," Sam says in a voice that is pretty ambiguous.

"It wasn't like I was making decisions for you. If you don't want to do it, we're not going. I was just…" Jack begins to defend himself.

"Jack, its fine. I'm just not used to other people… taking care of details for me. I've been a single mom, doing all the planning. I mean, dad helped out with the practical stuff, but…"

"Decisions have always been all you," Jack says.

"It's nice to have someone to share with," Sam says, leaning her head against him.

"So this is a 'yes' on cabin?" he asks.

She nods his head against her shoulder.

**One Week Later**

"Daddy, do we have to kill the worms?" Ty says, hiding his face in his father's shoulder to avoid seeing the worms wiggling around in a Styrofoam cup.

"That's part of fishing, little man," Jack says, "I'll put the worm on the hook for you."

Sam looks at her son, who looks like he's about ready to cry, "Jack, don't they make artificial worms?"

"Sure, but they don't work as well," Jack admits.

"Jack," Sam says in a way that draws his eyes to the little boy beside him.

"Right, it doesn't really matter if we catch anything or not. Why don't you go free the worms, little man?" Jack says, handing his son the cup. The kid runs over and dumps them in the dirt.

Mrs. O'Neill laughs, "I'm beginning to hope we don't catch anything. If he has that kind of a reaction to the worms, I can't imagine what he would do if we actually caught a fish."

Sam giggles, "Dad, how come you never took us fishing as kids?" she asks, turning to Jacob.

"You had a bad reaction to it," he says.

"No way, I never had a problem with dissecting animals in high school. I don't know why it would have been any different with fish," she protests.

Jacob laughs, "That's not what you had a reaction to. You were five. Mark was three. You had gone fishing with me several times, and not caught anything. Then the first time that Mark went fishing with me, he put his line in, and caught a huge fish. And that is when you melted down."

"I did not," Sam protests.

"Oh, you did," Jacob says with another laugh, "Mark felt so sorry for you that he tried to put the fish on your line."

"Note to self, never beat Carter at anything," Jack says.

"Shouldn't be a problem for you, Jack," Jacob teases.

Tyler runs back, "All the worms squirmed safe into the ground," he announces.

"Good, than we can get started fishing," Jack says.

-0-0-0-

"Well, I think that's about it for fishing today, we should get ready for supper," Mrs. O'Neill says.

"But Daddy, you said we could have fish for supper. But we haven't caught any fish," Ty whined.

"Huh, you're ok with killing fish, but not worms?" Jack asks confused.

"Wait, I caught something!" Sam exclaims, reeling it in hard, "Ty, come here and help me reel it in!"

Ty runs over, and he and his mother work together to land the fish.

"Well, Samantha, that is the biggest fish that's ever been caught in this lake," Jack announces.

"We get to have fish for supper?" Ty asks hopefully.

"Yep," Jack says, "As soon as someone helps me clean it."

"Daddy," Ty laughs, "It was in the water, it's already clean."

"He means cutting it open and taking the good eating parts away from all the gross parts," Jacob explains.

Ty looks at the fish critically. "I think all the parts might be gross," the boy announces.

"How about you and I go into the cabin, and get the rest of supper ready while we leave these guys to the fish?" Mrs. O'Neill asks lifting the boy up.

"Ok, Grandma, I knew you were wise," the boy announces, causing all of the grow-ups to laugh.

"I think I'll go with you guys," Jacob says, following them into the cabin.

"I'll do all the cutting," Jack offers, pulling the hook out of the fish's mouth.

"Jonathan O'Neill, is there anything about me that says squeamish girly-girl to you?" Sam asks.

"Besides the stunning figure? No, not really," he says back, handing her a pocket knife.

She carries the knife and fish over to a picnic table next to the house, "I don't remember ever having done this, so you are going to have to give me some instructions."

"Ok, your first incision should be along the lateral line of symmetry," he instructs.

She blinks at him.

"Right here," Jack says, running his finger along where the cut should go.

"Yeah, I knew what those words meant, I just didn't know that you did," she says with raised eyebrows.

He shrugs.

She shakes her head as she makes he cut, "You know, I've known for quite some time that you're not nearly as dumb as you like people to believe, but now I'm starting to wonder just exactly how smart you are."

"Not very," he teases as she scoops out the guts.

He picks the stomach off the table, "Check the stomach. If we know what the fish likes to eat, we can use better bait next time."

She slices it open, and gasps.

"What? Something cool? When I was a kid I once found a frog inside of one of these babies. Can you imagine? A fish eating a frog?"

"Jack, how?" Sam asks, looking at him.

"What?" Jack says, completely puzzled by her actions.

She draws out the ring. The same ring that Jack had thrown into the pond four years earlier. The ring that, apparently, this fish had swallowed.

"You must have caught this fish, feed him the ring, and then put him in the pond. This is… the most unique proposal ever!" Sam gushes.

Oh, God, proposal? Jack thinks in panic. He plasters a grin on his face. Marry her? Yeah, he wants to marry her. He just hadn't expected to. Well, at least now he understands what women feel like when they are proposed to when they aren't expecting it.

"But how could you have known I was going to catch the fish?" Sam asks, confused.

"Samantha, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" he asks, figuring at some point she's actually going to want words attached to the thing that she believes is a proposal.

She shakes her head.

No? She's saying no? Well, of course she is. It's crazy early for a proposal. Which is why he hadn't actually proposed.

"Jack, you didn't do it on purpose, did you? Is it even your ring?" Sam asks.

"Yeah, it is," he says.

"Ok, how did it get into the fish?" she asks.

Jack debates lying to her. But that doesn't seem like a good way to start a marriage, and he's just realized that he really does want to have a marriage with Sam, and soon.

"I had a buddy buy that for me during desert storm. If you hadn't gotten orders, I would have had them send it to me oversees," Jack admits.

"You were going to propose back then?" she asks.

He nods.

"I would have said yes," she says with absolute certainty.

"Even if you hadn't been pregnant?" he asks.

"Definately," she assures him. "So how did it end up in the lake?"

"I might have… ah, chucked it in there when I thought you were with some other guy," he says.

"You threw an engagement ring in the lake?" she laughs.

He nods.

"Look, I'm sorry about thinking this was a proposal. Can we just forget about the part where I embarrass myself, by saying yes?" she whispers.

"Technically, Samantha, it is a proposal. I did ask you to marry me," he points out.

"Yeah, only because I thought you had already proposed," she says with a laugh.

"Sam, I am unbelievably grateful to this fish. I really want to marry you," he says, looking in her eyes.

"Yeah?" she asks.

"Yeah," he says.

She lets out a soft giggle, before running into the house.

"Was that an answer, Carter?" he calls after her. She doesn't say anything, and so he runs after her.

Sam bursts into the house, and starts washing the ring frantically in the sink.

"What happened, did you cut yourself?" Jacob asks, running over to his daughter at the sink.

As soon as he gets close he sees the ring. "Well, son of a gun!" he exclaims, walking over to Jack and slapping him on the back. "Welcome to the family, son."

Mrs. O'Neill jumps up, and pulls Sam into a hug, "Oh, I'm so happy for you!"

"What is going on?" Ty asks indignantly.

Sam slips the ring onto her finger, and Jack grins at her. "Well, son I just gave your mother a special present. A ring, and when you give someone this kind of a ring it means that you are promising that you are going to marry them. That you love them, and that you are going to stay with them forever."

"That's good," Ty says.

"I think so," Jack says, grinning at Sam over the boys head.

"Daddy, can I have a ring, too?" Ty asks.

Jack laughs. "No, honey."

"Why not?" Ty asks.

"Because boys don't wear engagement rings."

Ty pulls his mother's hand down so he can look at her ring, "But it's pretty, Daddy."

"Yes, it is," Sam says, looking at it, and then meeting Jack's eyes.

"Daddy, don't you want to marry me?" Tyler asks worriedly.

Jack smiles at him, and picks him off the ground, "Honey, fathers don't marry their sons. But I am going to love you forever, and stay forever with you."

"But mom gets a pretty ring to prove you love her," Tyler protests.

"Well, how about I get you something to prove it to. Maybe a new fire truck or a baseball or something," Jack offers.

Ty stares at his father like he is dense, "Those don't sparkle, Daddy."

"No, I don't suppose they do," Jack says in a bemused voice.

"I think we should celebrate the engagement," Jacob interrupts.

Mrs. O'Neill smiles, "I agree. Why don't you and I take Ty out for pizza and ice cream, and then the three of us can have a camp out in the tent tonight?"

"Can we have a campfire with s'mores too?" Ty asks excitedly.

"Of course," Jacob says with a smile.

"You guys don't have to do that," Sam asks blushing.

"I know we don't have to, dear. But this way, you can go out and have a nice date with my son," Mrs. O'Neill says.

**Note: Right now you are probably thinking that there are no fish in Jack's pond. Ah, but we know that in the world created in Moebis there are fish. That actually means there were fish before Moebis, because that is the reality we live in. It's tripy, I know.**


	18. Part 2 Chapter 12

"To us," Jack says lifting up a glass in cheers.

Sam lifts her champagne glass filled with juice, and taps it against his. But she looks distracted.

"What's wrong?" Jack asks with a knot of worry coiling in his stomach. Did he do something wrong already?

"Why are you so against getting Ty a ring?" she asks, looking at him.

"Because he's three, and I'm not marrying my son," Jack says with a laugh in his voice.

"Jack, he's insecure. He not used to having a father. He probably isn't that confident you are going to stick around."

"He's a kid, Sam. I'll find another way to convince him that I am going to stick around."

"Are you saying no because he's a kid, or because he's a boy?" Sam asks.

"I don't know, a little of both, I suppose. Boys don't wear engagement rings," he says with raised eyebrows.

She leans back in her chair, "Jack, I grew up being told that girls didn't play with astronaut dolls, or make guns out of sticks, or join the air force."

"It's different for boys," Jack says.

"Different, yeah, but not worse. I mean, boys might get teased a little more for playing with dolls or liking jewelry or whatever. But there are fewer jobs their actually scorned for taking. I mean, sure, male nurses and ballerinas get a lot of crap. But a lot of the professional world is closed off to women. There are so many jobs that we're not even supposed to want to have."

"Sam, you don't understand. A boy does girly thing and he's just not going to be made fun off, he's going to be beat up," Jack protests.

"I know," Sam says, pulling up her t-shirt sleeve up to reveal a scar, "And that is something that I got for being better than the boys at sling shot when I was twelve. That doesn't change the fact that I want my son to grow up in a world where he's allowed to do anything he wants. And he really better be able to grow up in a family where he's able to do anything that he wants."

"Sam, I hear you, but I'm trying to prevent our son from getting hurt here," Jack says quietly.

She stares at him for a few seconds trying to figure out if this is true. But she still sees some fear in his eyes that indicates it's at least partly a lie. "Jack, are you afraid he's gay?"

"Has he said something to you?" Jack asks with concern.

"No, and I don't think he is. But he could be, Jack. Anyone could be. Would you love him any less?"

"No, of course not," Jack says. His voice rings true and easy.

"Ok, then, what can be wrong with him doing something girly?"

He smiles, "Ok, I'll buy my son an engagement ring."

"Thank you," Sam says with a grin as the waitress sets down the food before them.

**A Week Later**

Jack has rarely in his life felt as awkward as he does walking into the jewelry store.

"Can I help you sir?" the women behind the counter asks.

"Yes, what rings do you have that would fit a three year old?" he asks.

She smiles leading him over to a display case, "You're daughter's a lucky girl. Any particular color?"

Jack debates lying to the lady. I mean, what would it matter in the big scheme of things? But that goes against his whole discussion he had with Sam. "Actually, it's for my son. And I don't know, he just requested 'sparkly'."

"Your son?" she says, surprised.

"I just asked his mother to marry me. He felt a little left out," Jack says.

"We have some nice jewelry meant for boys. Nothing in his size, but we could order something in if you found something you like."

"It needs to be a ring, a sparkly ring," Jack says.

"Ah… yes, sir, do you have a color in mind?" the woman says, stammering, bringing a tray out of the container.

"This one is nice," he says, pointing to a green ring. He and his son shared a favorite color.

The woman hands it to him, and he puts it on his the first segment of his pinky finger to examine the effects the light had on it.

"This will do," he says smiling at the women. "Can you engrave 'always' on that?"

-0-0-0-

"Mommy what are you getting Daddy for his 'gagement present?" Ty asks.

"Sweetie, it doesn't work that way," Sam says with a smile.

"It sucks to be a boy," he pouts, "You get a ring, and Daddy and I get 'nuffin."

Sam smiles, knowing the second half of that isn't true. And then she realizes, the first half doesn't have to be true either. "You're right, Ty, we should get your Daddy a present. And I know the perfect thing."

"Can I help?" Ty asks bouncing.

"Yes, you can. Remember when you asked for a dog last Christmas?"

"You said no," Ty reminds her.

"Well, I'm saying yes now. The only catch is, it has to be the same color as Schrodinger."

-0-0-0-

"Hey, Jacob, where is the little man?" Jack asks.

"They're in the backyard," Jacob says, gesturing Jack inside.

Jack's heart just about leaps out of his chest when he sees his son with a dog sitting on his chest licking his face.

"Surprise," Sam says when he walks through the door.

"What is this?" Jack says, slapping his thighs to call a puppy over.

"This is your puppy, but he likes me, too. Puppies say they like you by licking your face," Tyler informs his father gravely.

"Right now I'm kind of hoping that you weren't kidding about wanting a dog," Sam says bashfully.

"I definitely was not," Jack says with a smile as the puppy squirms in his arms.

"We got you this 'cause it's not fair that girls get nice things for 'gagement, and boys don't," Tyler declares.

"You know what, it isn't. Which is why I got you this," Jack says, handing his son a velvet box.

Tyler opens it up, and his eyes light up, "It's sparkly, Daddy. Thank you!"

"Woah, Jack, I thought you were going to get him a toy. This is too nice for a kid!" Sam protests.

"Tyler is going to take really good care of it, aren't you, son?" Jack asks. Tyler nods gravely, slipping it onto his finger.

"Honestly, Sam, it wasn't that expensive," Jack defends.

The puppy licks Jack's face.

"Daddy?" Tyler says suddenly worried, "Isn't the puppy going to get lonely?"

"No, he's got three adults, a little boy, and a cat to play with," Jack says.

"But he's your dog, I thought he would live at your house," Tyler says, confused.

"Tyler, the puppy is going to stay at your house whenever I do," Jack says.

"Daddy, why do you have two houses?" Tyler asks.

"That, son, is a really good question," Sam says. "One that Daddy and I will talk about later."

Tyler leans forward and whispers in his father's ear, "Pick this house, Daddy. I don't want you to live alone."

"Don't worry about that, son," Jack says, laughing.

-0-0-0-

Later that night, Sam and Jack lay next to each in bed. They have just finished a rather amazing round of lovemaking, and are still tangled together. "So where are we going to live after we get married?"

"I was thinking… together," Jack suggests with a smirk.

She playfully elbows his ribs, careful to avoid the portion of him which contains a baby.

"I practically live here already, Sam. I figured I'd just move my stuff in. Then we can bicker about what furniture we're going to keep," Jack says with a smile.

"This house is pretty small," Sam says.

"And soon there are going to be five of us. Maybe one day there will be even more, eh?"

Sam nods. "Yeah, maybe one more in a couple of years, especially if you're willing to carry it."

"Sorry, love, you're going to be bearing any future children," he says.

"So, new house shopping?" Sam asks.

"Yes."

**Three Days Later**

Jack's eyes are wide open, even though it is the middle of the night. He's been very hungry for the last couple of days. Even though the pills the off-world doctor gave him got rid of the nausea, it still left him feeling kind of odd. Now, he really wants to eat. If only he could figure out exactly what he wants to eat.

Ah, orange juice and ice cream, of course, it's the perfect snack, really. And maybe after that, he'll have eggs. Yeah, eggs covered in ketchup... no, salsa, spicy salsa. He heads into the kitchen to fulfill his cravings. As soon as the eggs are on the stove, he mixes up the orange juice and ice cream.

Just then Jacob walks into the room. He looks at the glass in Jack's hand, and blinks his eyes. "Is that for Sam?" he asks, looking excited.

"No, I was just having a snack. Can I make you something?" Jack asks knowing, that he wasn't the only one who was too sick to eat for the last couple of days.

"Jack, you're trying to tell me you've been sick for days, and then you're drinking that?"

"Yeah, well, believe what you want," Jack says, taking another sip while pouring the salsa on the almost-finished eggs.

"For a second I thought I'd get to see a second grandchild," Jacob says with longing in his voice.

"You will. You'll get to see several grandchildren, and you'll get to see them all grown-up too," Jack says, turning to look at the man.

"That's kind Jack, but…" Jacob begins.

"You're beating this cancer," Jack says firmly.

"You and Sam are planning on having more kids?" Jacob asks as he pulls the milk out of the fridge to pour a glass.

"Yeah, sooner rather than later," Jack says. He doesn't want to tell Jacob anything tonight, Sam needs to be here for the discussion.

"After the wedding, though?" Jacob asks.

Jack takes another sip of his mixture, and then feels the nausea returning. Jacob stares after Jack as he rushes out of the room. Apparently the medicine doesn't always work.

"What the hell is going on?" Jacob mutters to himself.

A**uthors Note: I know the science is funky. Just suspend your disbelief.**


	19. Part 2 Chapter 13

**The Next Day**

"We have to tell him, he already thinks that something is up," Jack protests to Sam the next morning.

"So we tell him that I'm having a baby. From what you told me, he already sort of thinks that anyway," she retorts.

"Sam, he's going to be living with us the whole time that I'm pregnant. He's going to figure out what is going on."

"Jack, he's not going to believe us, if we tell him," Sam says.

"Don't underestimate him," Jack warns.

"Hey, guys, I put the kid in front of some Saturday morning cartoons. I figured we had a discussion coming," Jacob says, knocking on their bedroom door.

"You're right, come on in," Jack says, scooting over on the bed so that Jacob can sit between the two of them.

"Dad, we've got a baby on the way," Sam says.

"I knew it! Congratulations!" Jacob says, giving his daughter a hug.

"Well Jacob, there is a catch. Sam isn't pregnant," Jack says.

Jacob looks between them, confused, "You're adopting?"

Jack bites his lip, "See, I'm the one that's pregnant."

Jacob rolls his eyes.

"Dad, I know that you never bought my cover story," Sam says.

"Right, you got a lot of medals for working in 'deep space radar telemetry', whatever that means. And if that was really your field, you wouldn't be going out of the country as often as you do," Jacob says.

"Well dad, you're right, the cover story is crap. What we really do, it's crazy. And I can't give you any details. But I will tell you that it resulted in Jack being exposed to something that changed his biology in a pretty significant way. A way that allowed him to become pregnant," Sam says.

Jacob shakes his head, "I don't care what kind of secret government experiments you are into, there is nothing out there that can make a man pregnant. It's… more complicated than that."

"Well, these people have been working on this for a very long time, in secret," Jack explains.

"But it's not safe. I mean, even if this was somehow possible, there would be no way to carry the baby to term," Jacob says.

"Long time, dad, apparently it's safer than the natural way," Sam says.

"But you're the first human trial," Jacob protests.

"No, I'm just the first _unwilling_ human trial. They did it to themselves, to each other before," Jack says.

Jacob shakes his head, "I still feel a little like I'm on Candid Camera. And if so, I am really going to look like a fool for believing you."

"Well, you're going to figure out that something is up in the next nine months. I would really appreciate it if you didn't exactly go share this with a bunch of people," Sam says.

"Of course not," Jacob says, looking at his son-in-law's flat belly.

"So the long and short of it is, you might have a puke pal a few more times before this is all said and done."

-0-0-0-

"Seriously? That is your car?" Janet asks, staring at the car before her incredulously.

"It's fine," Daniel points out with a slight pout. Janet decides that a pouting Daniel Jackson is even more amazing than a Daniel absorbed in an artifact, her previously favorite form of the man.

"You save the world on a regular basis, don't they pay you?" Janet asks as she sits down in his clunker.

"I do not save the world on a regular basis," Daniel protests as he buckles his seat belt.

"You pretty much single handedly opened the Stargate," Janet continues.

"That is an exaggeration," Daniel protests. He puts the car in reverse, and puts his hand absently on the passenger seat as he turns to look behind him before backing up. It's an action he's done ever since learning to drive, when he was eighteen. And he has no notice of the fact that this action almost leaves Janet breathless as his fingers make brief contact with her shoulder. "If you want to talk about people who save the world, let's start with you. I mean, how many times have you identified and cured some alien contagion that could take down the world? More often than not, some contagion that I had a hand in brining through the gate."

Janet stares at him for a long moment, "Is it really possible that you have no idea how amazing you are?"

He blushes.

"I should also tell you that the basket was unnecessary. It turns out you are not the member of SG-1 that has the most trouble coping with temporarily having female organs. That honor would go to Teal'c. He punched out three marines today," she informs him.

"What did they say?" Daniel asks giggling.

"I have no idea. He wouldn't say, and the marines were not about to repeat it, but I can pretty much guarantee you it was some sort of a crack about his extra equipment." She stares at him for a little bit before continuing, "Daniel, I find that I know very little about you. I mean, besides what happens to you in the mountain. What do you do outside the mountain?" she asks.

"Sleep."

Janet laughs, "Well, I take that to mean that you almost never leave the mountain, because as your doctor I know that you don't do very much of that."

"I am a bit of a workaholic," Daniel says with a touch of bitterness in his tone.

"And yet, you're not working now," Janet says softly.

"No, I'm not," Daniel says, and his voice clearly shows that he is puzzled by his own actions.

"Where are you from, Daniel?" Janet asks.

"That question has a really long answer," Daniel warns.

"We've got time," Janet says with a smile.

"I was born in Greece. I lived in Iraq, Italy, and Egypt. I had some brief trips to the States, but I've been America bound ever since I turned eight; well, except for Abydos. I lived in just about every place in New York State. I went to a community college there for a couple of years, and then I did the rest of my schooling in Chicago. Then I ended up here."

"Doctor Jackson, are you an army brat?" Janet asks, surprised.

Daniel swallows hard, "My dad was an anthropologist, and my mom was a linguist."

"How did they settle on New York?" she asks.

There is a long moment of silence, "Death."

"Oh God, I'm so sorry," she says, clasping her hand over her mouth, "I should have read your file!"

"Don't apologize for not being a stalker, Janet, you couldn't have known," he says quietly.

She puts her hand gently on his arm. "I'm sorry," and now it's not an apology but sympathy. "It's hard to move around a lot. At least that's why my ex kept trying to tell me after I joined the Air Force."

Daniel's head whips around so fast that Janet is more than a little surprised he doesn't get whiplash. "You were married?" he squeaks with surprise and alarm.

"It was four years ago. It is very much over."

"What happened?" he asks softly. Then he rushes on, "I mean, you don't have to tell me, I'm being noisy."

"It's ok, Daniel, he was… really controlling. After we got married, I said I wanted to have kids. He informed me that we weren't going to have them. It wasn't even about the kids, you know. It was about the fact that I had no say in whether or not we were going to have them. He just informed me it wasn't happening. I'd say that was the beginning of the end."

Daniel doesn't acknowledge her sharing, and after a really long moment of silence, she changes the topic. But no matter what topic she tries to engage him in, she doesn't get much of a response.

Janet sighs. Well, if he's going to get like that just because she's divorced, he isn't worth her time. What hypocrisy! I mean, the man's wife had only died a few months ago, and he was already on a… was it a date?

Daniel glances over at her, just once, with a little sadness. Maybe they would have been great together. But it doesn't really matter. Because he can't give her kids. And if she left her husband for that, what chance do they have at the future?

**The Next Day**

"Time to get up!" Ty says, bouncing on his parent's bed.

"Oh, bud, stay away from Daddy's stomach," Jack says, sitting up protectively to avoid his son's foot contacting that region of his body.

"Why?" the kid asks, taking a big leap and landing on his bottom inches from his father.

Jack looks at Sam. Sam smiles, "Buddy, are you ready for a big secret?"

Ty grins at them. "Yep."

"You're going to be a big brother," Jack says.

"'Kay," Tyler says, unimpressed.

"What I mean, is we are going to have a baby," Jack explains.

"'Kay," Ty replies.

"But the secret part of this that the baby is in Daddy's stomach. Usually babies are in the mommy's stomach. So we are going to have to pretend that is where this baby is," Sam explains.

Ty looks up at his father, "Daddy, is the baby going to stay in your stomach forever?"

"Ah, no, bud. After a long time, the baby is going to come out and live with us," Jack explains.

"Are you sure it can't stay in your belly forever?" Ty asks.

"Don't you want a new brother or sister?" Sam asks.

Ty looks from one of his parents to the other. "I don't know yet."

Jack laughs a little, "Remember back when you didn't know me?"

Ty nods his head.

"Well, that turned out ok, didn't it?" he prompts.

"Well, if the new sister is going to be as nice as Emma, I guess she can stay with us," he says decidedly.

"It might be a brother," Sam tells him.

"In that case, he can go live with Uncle Mark," Ty declares. Jack starts to laugh, but is cut short with a glare from Sam.

"You'll love a brother as much as a sister," she assures him, "Remember Ty, you cannot tell anyone that Daddy is the one having the baby, no matter what. Got it?"

Ty nods. "I want to go fishing!" he exclaims.

Jack tries to stand up, but a wave of dizziness overcomes him. He sits back on the bed with a hard 'plop'.

"Are you ok?" Sam asks moving over to him.

"I'm fine, I just don't know about fishing this early in the morning," Jack mutters.

"Are you going to be ok if I take him fishing, Jack?" Sam asks softly.

He nods.

"You can't take me fishing!" Ty exclaims.

"Why?" Sam asks, her hackles already raised, expecting some answer related to her gender.

Her son's response is obvious, "'Cause you didn't grow up on a lake, Mom."

"It's ok, bud, I taught your mother everything I know about fishing. Go get dressed," Jack says.

"That's an exaggeration, 'everything you knew about fishing'. You took me once," his wife excuses.

"I didn't say that I knew much," he says, giving her a kiss.

**Two Weeks Later Later**

"Daddy," Ty says, standing on the end of the bed.

"What's wrong, honey?" Sam asks.

"I want Daddy," Ty pleads.

"Ok, bud, it's ok," Jack says getting up and following his son. Tyler puts his hand in his father's and leads him toward his room. Jack sees some vomit on the floor. Jack realizes it is probably his own fault. He did let the kid have an extra serving of ice cream.

"Your stomach still hurt?" Jack asks, touching his forehead gently.

Ty shakes his head.

"Ok, let's get you cleaned up, and then you can go lay with Mommy while I get this cleaned up."

"Don't tell Mommy what happened," Ty begs.

"Honey, your mommy isn't going to be mad at you about his. No-one is ever going to get mad at you for being sick," he pauses, and then adds, "Again."

Jack looks at his son as he helps him change his shirt, and gently brushes his teeth. "Son, do you remember someone hurting you?"

Ty looks away.

"It's ok, babe," Jack prompts.

"Mommy and Grandpa were really mad," he whispers.

Oh, God. "Sweetie, they weren't mad at you. They were mad at the person who hurt you. Honey, she was a bad person. And if they'd known, they never would have left you with her. We love you, and we don't want anyone to hurt you, ever, do you understand?"

Ty nods.

"Ok, ready to go to Mommy?" Jack asks.

The boy puts up his arms, and Jack carries him in. He sets the kid down on the bed, and Ty snuggles against his mom.

"Sam, he, ah… remembers what happened to him. He was sick, and he was afraid you'd be mad. It happened once before when you were gone, that time he wet the bed. He thinks you were mad at him after the abuse. I told him that it was the woman who hurt him that you were mad at," Jack explains.

"Oh baby, you didn't do anything wrong," she says, cuddling him. "And I wish you never got hurt. It's not going to happen again, I swear," she says, rocking the boy.

"Not mad?" Tyler asks.

"Not mad," Sam assures him, touching his forehead, "You sick?"

"He told me he feels better, I've got some cleaning to do," Jack says. "Need anything, kiddo?" Jack asks.

"Blankie?" Ty asks.

"You got it, bud."

-0-0-0-

By the time Jack's cleaned up his son's room, his son is asleep, wrapped around Sam.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that, Jack," she whispers as he sits down next to her in the bed.

"Well, I think the extra ice cream might have been the cause, so I deserved it."

"He remembers," Sam says, looking down at the boy wrapped around her.

"I don't actually know how much he remembers, Sam. It could just be more of a feeling than specifics."

"I really hoped that he wouldn't have any memory of it," Sam whispers.

"Well, he might not, when it's all said and done. Sam, he's still really young."

Sam nods her head, "Do we talk to him about it? Or ignore it?"

"I think he just needs some reassurance. He needs to know that it's not going to happen to him again."

Sam nods her head. Then she leans down next to her baby boy and whispers, "I'm so sorry, my love. But Mommy will never let you get hurt again."

**The Next Day**

Ty squirming wakes both of his parents the next morning. "How are you feeling, bud?" Sam asks softly.

"Better," he responds, stretching.

"Listen, Tyler, I wanted to talk to you about something important," Sam says.

Tyler nods, looking a little embarrassed.

"Sweetie, everyone gets sick sometimes. And you're never going to get in trouble for being sick," Sam says.

"I should have made it to the toilet," Tyler says.

"You know, when you were in Mommy's stomach, I got sick a lot. One time I missed, too," Sam admits.

"Really?" Tyler asks, looking up at mother in surprise.

"Yeah, babe. Why are you so worried you will get in trouble for being sick?" Sam asks.

Tyler shrugs.

"Ty, your mother and I are not going to be mad at you, no matter what you tell us," Jack assures him.

Ty just looks down, and shrugs again.

"Do you remember Ms. Melissa?" Jack asks.

Ty shakes his head.

"Do you remember when your arm was broken?" she asks.

Ty looks at her, "I was someplace new, and I didn't know nobody. And they kept touching my arm, and it hurt."

"Oh, baby," Sam says, hugging him tightly.

"Tyler, a woman hurt you. It was because she was bad, not you. It's not going to happen again," Sam says.

"But if anyone does hurt you, you would tell us," Jack says firmly.

Tyler nods his head.

"I love you bud," Jack says.

"Me too, so much," Sam says.

"I love you guys, too," Ty says, throwing an arm around each of his parents in order to give them a squeeze.


	20. Part 2 Chapter 14

**Spoilers for "Torment of Tantalus" and "Fire and Water"**

**Two Weeks Later**

Sam and Jack are off-world, on one of Jack's pre-natal appointments. The doctor smiles at him, "You're far enough along for our scan now."

"Just now? Our doctors have been able to do sonograms since the very beginning," Jack says in surprise.

Then the baby appears above his stomach in three dimensions and motion. "The baby looks like you could reach out and touch it!" Jack explains.

The doctor blinks at him, "Do not your scans have the same effect?"

Sam giggles at her husband, having to eat a bit of crow after his rather pompous comment a few minutes ago.

"That is impressive. Does it say that everything is all right?"

The doctor smiles, "Your daughter is perfectly all right."

"Daughter?" Jack says with a grin.

The doctor looks at the computer in front of him, "Oh, your daughter does have a slightly genetically higher chance of three disorders; all of them are fairly minor things. I'll print out the percentages for you."

"How do you know this?" Sam asks in awe.

"You are a scientist, would you like your daughter's genetic profile? There are several highly beneficial genes in it. You daughter has a good chance of being both physically fit and intelligent."

"How do you know all this?" Jack asks this time.

"Her genetic profile," the doctor says, as if the couple was particularly dense.

"On our world, most people don't figure out their child's genes until after the child is born. It's possible to do it before, but there is a little chance that it could result in losing the baby, so people don't do it unless they have a good reason. And even if our people do the test, they wouldn't be able to find out as much about the baby as you seem to do."

"So you want a copy of your child's reading?" the doctor asks again.

"Yes, please, and if there would be a way to get a textbook on this sort of technology I would appreciate it as well."

"Have you not unlocked the secrets of the genetic code?" the doctor asks in surprise.

"Apparently not as well as you have. We've haven't even finished mapping the genome.* We certainly haven't figured out what most of the genes do!"

"This knowledge is very valuable," the doctor says with a smile.

Jack flinches, he knew this wasn't going to be this easy.

"We might have to send a diplomat through to discuss the exchange of gene technology for knowledge of the Stargate."

The doctor smiles, "I think that might be a wise plan."

**Two Months Later**

Daniel stops Janet's office after work. "Ah… Catherine and Ernest are going to be on Earth for a couple more days. We were all going out to eat with them tonight. I was wondering if you wanted to come."

Janet blinks in surprise. "It would be an honor."

-0-0-0-

As Janet approaches the table, Ernest stands up. She thinks for a minute that he's just being delightfully 1940s. But he pulls her into a hug.

"Ah… ok," Janet says awkwardly, trying to escape from his embrace.

"I told you to lay off the hugs there, old boy," Jack says.

"Give him a break," Daniel says, "He's been without human contact for a long time." There is something in his eyes which makes Janet suspect that Daniel knows what that is like; to a lesser degree of course.

"I like your necklace," Janet says to Catherine as she sits down.

"Oh, thanks, honey; it's from Ancient Egypt. Daniel took it to Abydos on the first trip," she says.

Daniel's cheeks go red.

"Yeah, it made the natives worship him," Jack points out.

"They didn't really worship me so much as…." Daniel starts to object.

"No, they pretty much worshipped him," Jack objects.

Everyone at the table laughs, including Daniel.

"You know, Daniel, I didn't have a chance to ask you before. What happened with Sha're?" Catherine asks.

He hangs his head for a second. No one speaks. Sam clears her throat, and says, "Ah… Sha're died, about six months ago."

"I'm so sorry," Catherine says taking his hand.

Daniel looks, for one brief second like he's going to cry. Then he looks directly at Catherine, "I'm going to make sure that more people don't have to die because of the Goa'uld."

"That's a noble task, sweetie," she says, tapping his hands.

"What about you, any men in your life?" Ernest asks Janet abruptly.

"Ah…" Janet glances at Daniel. The maybe-date happened quite some time ago. He hasn't said anything to her since then. She's dated a few men since then, but there has been nothing serious. "Not really."

"Jack and Sam just got engaged," Daniel says cheerfully.

"I thought I saw a bit of sparkle on that finger of yours," Catherine says, holding up her hand toward Sam. Sam places her hand in the older woman's and the woman admires the ring.

"I should get you one of those," Ernest says.

"I still have the one that you gave me years ago. I just didn't want to start wearing it again until you said something."

Ernest slides off his chair and onto the floor. Teal'c tries to catch him, obviously being under the impression that he is under some kind of distress. The man shakes him off, and goes down on one knee. "Catherine, may I have the pleasure of marrying you?"

Catherine grins, "Of course," she says, leaning over to give him a kiss.

Daniel starts a loud clap that spreads around the room. Sam lets out a whistle, and Jack let out a whoop.

Everyone stands up, and hugs are passed around the group, much to Ernest's delight. Daniel's hug with him is a little longer than most. Daniel remembers how desperate he was for touch when he was eight years old and his parents were dead. And he never spent decades as the sole inhabitant of a planet.

"So Ernest, have you noticed a few changes since coming back to Earth?" Daniel asks.

Ernest leans forward with a scandalized face, "The women wear pants."

"Much easier to move in," Sam says, with a slightly offended face.

"And you have these, TV-type things," Ernest begins.

"Computers, honey," Catherine says, lightly tapping his arm.

"Right, you have these computers everywhere."

"I would say that would be different," Jack says.

"This this stone music," Ernest says, shaking his head.

"He means rock and roll," Catherine says, covering her mouth with a giggle.

"In that case, you might be glad that you missed the sixties, am I right?" Jack asks, looking around the table.

"Jack, sweetie, I think you and Catherine are the only people at the table who actually remember the sixties," Sam says.

"No way," Jack objects, looking around the table. The rest of the table nods their assent.

"Well that makes me feel old," he complains, rubbing his stomach absently. He feels a bit too old to be pregnant right now.

"Hey, now, watch yourself," Catherine teases.

"Sorry, ma'am," Jack says.

"Don't you start ma'am-ing me now. That's almost as bad as calling me old," she says playfully. "Now, Jack, I've already given Daniel an earful about why you didn't tell me he was back on Earth. What is your excuse for keeping this from me?"

Jack smiles, "Well, Catherine, I've been just a little bit busy."

Catherine glares at him, "You couldn't take five minutes out of your busy schedule to make a phone call."

"It was classified," Sam defends.

"I am going to be kept in the loop from now on, right?" Catherine asks in a voice of accusation.

"We're not going to be able to give you the details," Jack says.

"But the big, world-altering headlines?" Ernest asks with an enthralled look on his face.

"I'll call you with those from now on," Daniel promises.

**Two Days Later**

Janet rushes into the gateroom for some unknown medical emergency. Whenever she is rushing down the corridor, she tries to prepare herself for whatever she is going to find in the room. The only problem is that at the SGC, there is no way that you can predict what is going to happen.

The members of SG-1 (minus Jack, due to his recent paternity light duty, and plus his wife) appear to be in shock, and even worse, there is a member of SG-1 that is missing. Daniel. He'd gone through some training since joining the SGC, but not enough to survive on his own. If he was on his own, it was bad. Very bad.

"Captain, look at me. Look at me!" Janet demands of Sam. Sam looks up at Janet, but there is almost no understanding in her eyes.

"They're in shock," she informs Hammond, "Get them to the infirmary!" The medical unit grabs the team and pulls them to their feet. Janet really needs to know what happened to Daniel, but this team needs medical attention first.

"Captain? Where's Dr. Jackson?" Hammond demands.

"Daniel Jackson…" Teal'c says, but even this stoic man was unable to keep it together long enough to get the whole sentence out.

"Daniel's dead, sir," Ferretti says, leaving the room, reeling.

-0-0-0-

Janet can't really afford the time for a break right now. The members of SG-1 are still in shock in her infirmary, but they weren't in any danger, and her staff was looking after them. Death always sucks. But doctors, they spend their whole lives fighting death. And when you save someone as a doctor, there is some connection there that is powerful. Daniel, he was hers. Hers to watch over, hers to keep safe, hers to keep alive.

And she'd failed.

Granted, he hadn't been directly under her care when it happened, but still… she felt responsible.

"Sorry, doctor… but we need you to interpret some test results," a nurse says from her doorway.

There will be time enough to grieve when she is home.

-0-0-0-

Sam can't believe she just threw Ty's trike across the yard. She's glad the kid is out of the house for the day because of the wake. He really doesn't need to see mom freak out. She also came pretty close to yelling at General Hammond. She knows there is something wrong with her. Something more than just grief. She never got like this when her mother died.

"Hey, I thought I had dibs on being the crazy one, at least until the baby was born," Jack whispers coming up behind her.

"Jack, I don't know what is going on," she whispers, and her voice sounds more terrified than she meant it to.

"Daniel is dead, Samantha."

"Is he?" she asks.

He whips her around so he can see her face, "You were there, Samantha. You would know."

"I know that, and I know that he is dead. I remember watching him die. But I also keep expecting him to just… show up. I know that sounds like normal grief. But I know what normal grief is like, and this isn't it."

Jack searches her eyes.

"I think I should go back to the base," she says in a stunned voice.

"I'll drive you," he says.

"Jack we have people here; we're in the middle of a wake."

"A wake for someone who might not even be dead; I'll kick 'em out," he says with a shrug.

"You stay, and I'll go to the base," she says firmly.

"Ok," he says giving her a quick smile.

-0-0-0-

"You're back from the dead," Janet says to Daniel as he enters her infirmary. He can't read something in the words as she says it.

"Yeah, well, that happens to me occasionally," he says flippantly.

"You can take a seat, and I'll examine you," Janet says.

"Don't let her near you with a penlight," Jack advises.

"Janet can do whatever she needs to with me," Daniel says, sitting down on the exam table with a bounce which definitely indicates that he ISN'T dead.

"What an invitation, doctor," Janet says in a sultry voice.

Daniel's cheeks go bright red.

Janet smiles. He's fun to tease. She takes the light to shine in those gorgeous eyes of his. "This had better be the last time I sign your death certificate, Daniel," she warns him. She missed him, more than she should have.

*That was true at the time. Of course we have it mapped now.


	21. Part 2 Chapter 15

**Two Weeks Later**

"Merry Christmas, son," Mrs. O'Neill says, wrapping her arms around Jack as she gets off the plane.

"Wow, what was that?" she asks pulling back.

"What?" he asks.

"Your stomach just moved!" his mom says.

Right, how did he think he was going to get away with her not noticing? "Tacos."

"Tacos?" Mrs. O'Neill asks dubiously, "And it looks like you've gained a little weight."

"Well, tacos," Jack replies.

"You can't fool me."

"Ah… I can't?" Jack asks nervously.

"Nope, you've been eating all of Samantha's cravings with her, haven't you?"

"Yep, that's it," he says. His daughter kicks again, and Jack wants desperately to put his hand over his womb to feel his daughter moving. But his mother is already suspicious enough.

"Where is your wife and son?" she asks.

"Sam's actually out of town on a mission. She'll be home tomorrow. Jacob and Ty were very involved with a lego construction project when I left."

"Samantha is out of town? Isn't she on maternity stand-down?" his mother asks, concerned.

"Yeah, well it's not like she's in Bagdad."

"Where is she, exactly?"

Jack pauses, running through the letters and numbers of the real answer in his head, but doesn't say anything.

"Let me guess. Classified?" his mother says with a laugh.

"You're used to that, right?"

-0-0-0-

"Grandma!" Ty says, running up and hugging him.

"Hey, little man, I got you the best present ever."

"Mommy says the best present is the fact that Daddy is carrying my little sister," Ty says.

"Yeah," Jack covers, "We got one of those little backpacks where you can strap the kid up on your back when she gets here."

"Sorry, dad," Ty says, looking shocked.

"Hey, that's ok. The rule about not telling Christmas presents doesn't apply when you're telling someone other than who the gift is for," Jack says smoothly.

Jacob stares at his son-in-law in awe. Black ops has turned this man into a really good liar. He makes a mental note of this. He is pretty sure he can never believe anything that this man tells him.

"Grandma, do you want to color?" Ty asks.

"I would love it," she says, grinning at her grandson.

-0-0-0-

Ty screams in his sleep. Sam and Jack run out of their bedroom to comfort them. Of course, Sam doesn't bother with the posthetic stomach. She nearly runs into her mother-in-law in the hallway.

"Buddy, are you ok?" Jack asks, going into the room.

Ty blinks at his dad, "Yeah."

"You were screaming in your sleep," Jack informs him.

"Huh, I don't even remember it," Ty says.

"You want to snuggle?" Sam asks.

"Not really," Ty yawns, "Too tired."

"Ok, night, kid," Jack says, giving him a quick kiss before heading out of the door.

"Samantha," Mrs. O'Neill's voice stops her in the hallway, "You've lost some weight," she says pointing to her stomach.

"Ah… it's a very slimming nightgown," she says, nervously crossing her arms over her flat stomach.

Mrs. O'Neill turns her head to her son. "Tacos?" she asks, lightly touching her son's stomach. He certainly hasn't magically lost any weight.

He just looks at her.

"Jack, are you having a baby?" she asks.

"Of course not, men don't have babies," he says softly.

"No, they usually don't," she agrees.

"Mrs. Carter, it's classified," Sam says.

"You need to start calling me mom, honey, and my son is having a baby," she says with firm certainty.

"I am," Jack confesses.

She engulfs her son in a hug, and giggles as she holds him tight. "This is weird, right?" she asks.

He smiles at her, "Yes, very weird."

**The Next Day**

"Daniel, do you have somewhere to go for Christmas?" Janet asks.

Daniel wraps himself in the tightest self-hug she's ever seen. "I don't really do the whole Christmas thing," he says.

"Are you Jewish or something?" Janet asks in surprise.

"Well, certainly _something_. So, I grew up in a lot of different cultures. My parents were big believers in participating in whatever culture you were in. We did a lot of ceremonies when I was a kid, but nothing that was like Christmas. I was just planning on working over the break."

"Oh, Daniel, that is not going to happen. Please, come to my house."

"Really? Ah… ok, if you're sure that you don't mind," Daniel says carefully.

**Two Days Later**

Daniel wonders if he got the address wrong. There is a lot of noise coming from the house right now.

He rings the bell, and an old woman answers the door. This would be confirmation that he was at the wrong address if it were not for the fact that she had a remarkable resemblance to the good doctor.

"Ah… hello," he says awkwardly.

"You're that Dr. Daniel fellow. Come on in," she says, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him into the room.

"Ah… Daniel Jackson, yeah. How do you know about me, exactly?" he asks.

"Why, little Jan told us all about you. You need some cookies, right? Christmas cookies, you poor little orphan," the woman says, pulling off his coat.

Daniel stands there with his mouth hanging open. Janet rushes up with cheeks aflame. "Grandma!" she scolds. Then she turns to Daniel, "I did not tell them _all_ about you. I just mentioned you were coming, and this was your first real Christmas."

"Daniel!" another woman with Janet's features and an age half-way between her grandma and herself rushes forward to pull him into a tight hug. "I am so glad that you came."

"If I would have known, I would have brought more gifts," he says bashfully.

"Gifts certainly aren't necessary, and I'm sorry I didn't give you any warning," Janet says, nearly whispering, "I was just worried that you wouldn't come if you had a heads up."

"You would have been right," he whispers back.

"I just wanted to share my family with you," she whispers back.

"Bob! Daniel's here! Come up here, and take him down with the other men won't you?" Janet's mother yells down the stairs.

"Ah… Merry Christmas," Daniel says, handing Janet a brightly-wrapped bundle as he is ushered downstairs by a collection of women who seem to have come out of the woodwork.

"Ah, Danny-boy!" a stout man says as he runs up the stairs, "You ever shot a blow-gun?"

"Ah… in grad school, on a dig, the Yogua taught us," Daniel replies bashfully.

"Daniel knows what the hell he's doing, move aside," Bob proclaims.

-0-0-0-

At supper time, Daniel is put next to a girl who is about six years old. "Are you going to marry Jan?" the girl, named Annie, asks.

"What made you ask that question?" he asks nervously, looking over at the woman in question. She is looking exceptionally good tonight. She looks great in a white coat, powerful, but she looks even better when she was all dressed up.

"She didn't even bring her husband to Christmas until after they were married. Of course, those Christmas were far away at someone else's house. But I don't think she brought you just 'cause Christmas was here this year."

Daniel smiles, "Janet and I work together. We're friends. I'm sure she felt sorry for me, because I don't have any family, and my wife died not too long ago. She's a nice woman that just didn't want me to be alone for the holidays."

The girl stabs a huge piece of turkey with her fork. She jabs it into the ketchup with far more force than is necessary, and then she brings it up to her mouth, still all in one piece. She leaves a trail of ketchup across her face. "I don't think that is all of it," she proclaims.

"Do you want me to cut up your meat?" Daniel asks her.

"No, why?" she asks, truly confused by his offer.

"You're making quite a mess there, little one," he says, wiping the ketchup from the corners of her mouth.

"It's a Christmas-colored mess, though," she offers with a grin.

"Yes it is," he says with a smile.

Janet's sister leans toward Janet, "He's good with kids, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Janet says, shoving some stuffing into her mouth.

"Doug was never very good with kids," her sister reminds her.

"It wasn't that he wasn't good with them. He just didn't like to be around them," Janet clarifies.

"Well, anyway, what's the deal with you and Doctor Delicious?"

"You're as bad as my nurses!" Janet hisses under her breath.

"Is that because I have nicknames for Professor Yummy-Pants, or for realizing that you like him?" Mary asks, taking a dish from her sister's hand.

Janet sighs, "Things with Daniel and I are a little complicated. We went on something that I thought might have been a date, but… I don't know. He avoided me for a while after that. And he included me in something. It was sort of work related, and there was a group. That definitely wasn't a date. But it also wasn't exactly something you'd take a stranger too."

"You invited him to Christmas," her sister points out.

"I did," Janet agrees.

"So that means something, right?"

Janet shrugs, "I just couldn't bear the thought of him being all alone on Christmas."

"But he came."

"Yeah, he came," Janet agrees.

"So that means something, right?"

"I don't know, Freud, I just really don't know."

-0-0-0-

"Hey, I'm going to take off," Daniel tells Janet much later that night.

"Let me walk to your car," Janet says, pushing past the group of cousins she's chatting with.

"Ooh…." A teenage boy says.

"Shut up," an aunt mutters to him, poking him in the ribs.

Daniel and Janet make their way out to the porch.

"You've got a big family," Daniel says.

"Yeah, sorry, they're a little bit crazy," Janet laughs.

"They're… great. I haven't seen an extended family like this since I left the Middle East."

"I really appreciate you supervising whatever they were doing with weapons in the basement. They needed adult supervision."

"I'm reasonably certain I was the youngest one there."

"Youngest, and most responsible, trust me," she says.

They've reached the car by now. "So, thanks for including me," he says, fidgeting.

"Any time, Daniel," she says.

"What an invitation, Doctor," he says, climbing into his car.

Janet blinks in surprise as he drives away. Daniel flirts? Since when?


	22. Part 2 Chapter 16

**Spoilers for "Hathor"**

**A Month Later**

The original plan was to leave Ty with her father when she went to try on her wedding dress. But her dad wasn't feeling good today, so Samantha Carter has to take her three year-old son to the dress shop with her.

"Mommy, your dress is beautiful," he says in awe, touching it.

"Thank you Ty," she says.

"Whose dresses are these?" he asks, touching the bridesmaid dresses.

"Those are for Auntie Martha and Janet," Sam explains.

"Is the little one for me?" Ty asks, with eyes alight.

She giggles, "No, that is a flower girl dress, for your cousin Lilly."

"Oh, where is my ring bear dress?" he asks.

"Ring bearer," she corrects, "And you're not going to wear a dress, you're going to wear a handsome suit just like Daddy."

Ty thinks about this for a while, "But you can't spin around in a suit."

"Sure you can," his mother assures him.

"Right, but it doesn't twirl up like a dress."

Sam sighs, and looks at her son. She is willing to let him be himself, but not at a wedding, for crying out loud. If she buys her son a dress, everyone is going to think that it was her idea. They would think she was some sort of a monster who used her three-year-old son to make a statement about gender roles.

"How come everyone gets to wear something pretty except for me?" Ty asks mournfully.

"Sweetie, I'll let you pick out any tie you want. Really, anything, no matter how crazy. And then we'll buy one to match for Daddy."

Ty sighs, "I wish I could wear a pretty dress."

Sam looks at her son. It would be different if he just threw a tantrum. Then she would have no qualms about dragging him out of the dress shop, kicking and screaming. But this, this passive but pensive acceptance, is too much for her. "Your father is going to kill me," she mutters, with her eyes rolling to the sky. Then to the owner of the dress shop, she says, "Can I get another flower girl dress, in size 3T?"

**One Week Later**

Daniel is running his fingers over the new device.

"You mind if I take a look at it?" she asks, taking a few steps closer to it.

"Sure," he says, turning to her with a genuine grin on his face, "You're a lot more qualified than I am."

"I'm not sure that anyone is really qualified to examine a machine that magically brings people back from the dead," she replies dryly. The two of them look at the machine for a little bit before Janet speaks again, "So what does it say?"

"Nothing that explains its purpose," Daniel says, running a hand along an inscription. That brings his hand very close to contacting Janet's. She looks up at him trying to figure out if it was intentional or not. His eyes are still on the inscription, and she can't tell.

"Dr. Jackson, the General wants you in the control room," an airman says.

"Good luck figuring it out, Janet," Daniel says.

-0-0-0-

Daniel Jackson is amazed. Hathor, a goddess, right in front of him. It was all of his ancient texts coming alive and allowing him to meet the Pharaohs. Only better – after all, the Pharaohs were only part-god. All the interesting artifacts that he had studied, all the stories that he had read, it was like all of this, and so much more.

"Dr. Jackson? Please remain. We have other questions," Hathor says.

Daniel closes the door behind him, thinking of all the questions that he wants to ask her, "Sure."

"It is time that you become our chosen one," Hathor says.

Daniel walks toward her, knowing that that is a lie. No-one chooses Daniel. Not to be on their team in gym class, not to be their friends, not to be adopted. "Chosen one?"

"Will you always honor us?" Hathor asks.

Daniel isn't comfortable with whatever is going on right now. It sounds way too much like wedding vows, and he's far close to his first marriage to participate in those. Everything in him wants to scream 'no', but he hears himself saying, "Yes."

"Would you… die for us?" she asks.

"Die?" No way in hell. He wasn't going to die for her. He didn't particularly want to be in the same room as her.

"Yes," he hears himself say.

-0-0-0-

"Jack, there you are," Sam says, running down the hallway after him.

"Here I am, Angel," he says with a grin.

"I wanted to have a word with you about Hathor, if you don't mind," Sam says a little nervously. Jack is acting really weird, and she doesn't know why.

"Fascinating lady, isn't she?" he says.

Sam's blood boils a little bit, "A little too fascinating, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?" Jack asks.

Sam's voice has a little bit of a dangerous edge as she says, "Well, she seems to have you all so… infatuated."

"Us all?" Jack says with raised eyebrows.

"Yes. The men. Don't you think it's a little dangerous to be giving a Goa'uld such royal treatment?" she presses.

"Ah, relax, Sammy. She's on our side."

"So she says," Sam says.

Jack gives her a glare. "Captain, if you don't mind my saying so, you're treating her exactly the way you hate to see people treat Teal'c. A bit of a double standard, don't you think?"

"Teal'c has proven whose side he's on. She hasn't," Sam points out.

"Sam, have you ever heard the old saying: 'My enemy's enemy is my friend'?" Jack says with his voice much too dismissive for her taste

"But even when the CIA grants sanctuary to an enemy turncoat, they never trust him. They watch him like a hawk," Sam presses.

"Daniel's watching her right now," Jack says, patting her on the shoulder, "Relax."

"That's a little like having the fox watch the hen house, Sir," Sam says as Jack walks away.

-0-0-0-

Daniel knows that he was supposed to keep Hathor in her quarters. He doesn't actually know why he went with her to the gate room, he didn't really want to, but none the less he was here now.

"Tell us, our beloved, what are the questions swelling in your mind?" she asks, running her fingers across the sarcophagus and her eyes across the gate.

"I spent years studying you as a student, and now I'm… I'm with you. Do you know that you're described in history as the most beautiful woman ever was or ever will be, able to control men with just your beauty?" he says, his stomach twisting a little at the description. It was a bit too much like what is happening to him right now.

Hathor isn't paying attention to his worshipful words right now. Instead, she is looking at the gate, "We are pleased to see you, old friend. It won't be long until you will serve us once again." Then she turns to Daniel and asks him, "Tell us, do you believe this to be true, now that you have come to know us?"

"Well, I certainly have a deeper understanding of it now," he says, wishing that the academic and the emotional could stay apart in his mind.

"We are the queen of the gods. We are the mother of all gods," Hathor informs him.

"Yes," he says, feeling absolutely sure that that is true. Then he realizes that this doesn't have much meaning, "What does that mean, exactly?"

"From us, all others come."

"I don't understand," he repeats.

"The Jaffa. He has a Goa'uld child in his belly?"

"A larva. Yes," Daniel says.

"Did you ever wonder from whence the children come?"

Actually, Daniel had wondered a lot of things about the Goa'uld, but their methods of reproduction were not things that had ever made the list. "Are you saying that they come from you?"

"Yes. And others, like us."

"My god. You're like a queen bee. You create the Goa'ulds," Daniel says in shock.

-0-0-0-

"So you actually create the larvae. How?" Daniel asks Hathor when they are back in his quarters.

"We must first have the code of life from the juices of the species intended as the host," Hathor says.

"Code of life?" Daniel says, confused. Even a linguist could get tied in knots by the unusual language that Hathor used.

"In order to ensure compatibility for the Goa'uld child and the host," she explains.

A sick realization dawns on him, "DNA. You mean you need DNA to prevent rejection." Daniel is really hoping that he is wrong about the method that the Goa'uld use to secure the DNA.

"The code of life," Hathor says with a smile, "We do so enjoy the method of procuring the code in your species." She pulls off Daniel's glasses, and runs a hand through his long hair. "It is much more pleasurable than most."

"I bet," Daniel says, with a bite in his words.

"Since you are to be our first pharaoh," she says, pushing the jacket off his shoulders, "You will honor us by being the one to contribute the code." She puts a hand on his neck possessively.

"You want me to help you create more Goa'ulds?" he says in horror. She moves over to try to kiss him, and he reaches up to try to push her away. No, not this. He's a married man. Sha're may be dead, but he still loves her. He's not going to betray her, and he certainly isn't going to help create a bunch of babies that will destroy the universe. Especially not when he can't even create good normal babies.

Hathor breathes out a pink mist, and Daniel breaths it in.

He still wants to fight her, but he finds that his body, and even most of his mind, are incapable of protests. The part of his mind that he still has control of screams within him, but the screams don't go anywhere.

-0-0-0-

"It must be a pretty powerful drug Hathor's using. Jack is Special Forces trained to fight mind control techniques," Sam informs Janet.

"Well, not Goa'uld techniques, apparently," Janet says dismally.

"Yup. Well, Mama said there'd be days like this," Sam says. Although, that isn't really true. Her mother might not have been an optimist, but she hasn't exactly said that there would be days where your fiancé gets taken over by a mind-controlling beautiful women.

"Really? My ex-husband said that. 'You outa your mind, honey-buns? There is a reason they call it this man's Army'," Janet says with a roll of her eyes.

"'This man's Army'? Your husband actually said that?" Sam says with a laugh.

"Yeah. So, of course, I explained to him that it wasn't the Army, it was the Air Force, and they've had women for decades," Janet says.

Sam shakes her head, glad that for once there is someone out there that actually understands what she is going through, "Man. I think maybe it's just me, but I can't figure out how to feel like one of the guys with these guys, you know what I mean? I always feel like I'm The Girl."

"That's it," Janet says grinning at Sam.

"What?" Sam asks nervously.

"You just gave me an idea on how to get us out of here. Look, if Hathor's control drug is hormone-driven like I suspect, that means she's making the men… libidinous."

Sam flinches. She really doesn't want to do anything that is going to be hard to explain to Jack later. She won't have the excuse of mind control. Besides, the idea of kissing anyone but her husband disgusts her. "Okay. Why do I get the feeling I don't like where this is going?"

-0-0-0-

Jack walks into the room deliberately. The way that you fight mind control is by keeping something important in your mind.

Sam, Ty, Sam, Ty, Sam, Ty. Two important things have to be better than one.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I'm ,uh… I'm sorry to barge in on you like this, but I'd like to ask you some questions." Well, already this isn't going well. Is he really apologizing to the women who imprisoned his wife?

"About?"

"About you, actually. See, you've… You've got me a little off-balance, and that's very unnatural for me."

"We are told by the one that you call Daniel that you are responsible for ridding us from the vile one, Ra," Hathor says seductively.

Jack nods, trying to make eye contact with the women, "Yeah, well, we kinda touched on that earlier. But I'd like to be the one asking the questions right now, if you don't mind."

"We must praise you and gift you a great honor."

This was a bad plan. He never should have gotten closer to someone who was using mind control on him. Now is the time to retreat, "Yeah. I'm sure that'd be just great, but not right…"

A pink mist fills the air, and Jack breaths it in. His mind screams, but his body, his face, they just sit there like a blank tablet, waiting for Hathor's stylus to imprint something on them. She pulls open his shirt, and then pulls a part of her own dress off to reveal a machine. She presses it against him. "Do not worry yourself. You will enjoy the richness that come with what we are giving you."

Jack flinches, "No, I'm pregnant," He protests, trying to push her away, "Please."

"You cannot fool me, the men of your species do not get pregnant. You will cherish the good health and long life that goes with being…" she pushes Jack away, against the wall, "Hathor's first, new, Jaffa."

-0-0-0-

This has definitely not been Sam's day. She was basically put in prison for trying to save the world. She escaped from that prison by seducing co-workers, people that she worked so hard to try to make see her as something other than just a girl. Then she conked the commander of the base across the head. Now she's looking at her pregnant husband in a tub full of screaming Goa'uld.

At least Hathor left. "Let's get him out of there." She rushes in to move under his arm to take the weight, "Okay, honey, we gotcha. Okay."

They pull Jack over to bench. Janet hands Sam her gun, saying, "Here, take this." She reaches into his new pouch, and feels around, "Yeagh… No. Nothing went in there yet."

"This is a good thing," Sam says firmly.

"Uh, maybe," Janet says.

"He no longer has an immune system. Without a Goa'uld larvae, he will soon die," Teal'c says.

Jack's eyes are still staring into the distance.

"Jack!" Sam screams.

He doesn't react to her words. "We have to get him into the sarcophagus."

-0-0-0-

Jack opens up his eyes, and tries to figure out where he was. Wherever he is, he's getting shot at. He ducks just in time.

Electricity zaps over the surface of the sarcophagus. Damn, Janet thought. That would have been a very useful tool to have in her infirmary.

"I don't think this is good," Jack says, while giving the signal to get out another door. The door doesn't even have time to shut before there is a big explosion.

"You all right?" Jack says to all present, but with a special emphasis to his wife.

"Yeah, good to have you back, Jack," Sam says.

"What, I left?" Jack asks, confused.

Janet stands up, holding her arm, which she has just noticed is causing her pain like it might be broken. They open the door to reveal a sarcophagus that is on fire.

"Jack, can I have a look?" Sam says softly, looking at her husband's stomach.

"The baby?" he asks with concern

She pulls his jacket open, "Wow. That's a miracle," she says in awe.

"Babies usually are," he whispers.

"Do you think the baby is going to be ok?" Sam asks over his shoulder to Janet.

"I don't know. We should get him looked out as soon as this is all over," her friend replies.

-0-0-0-

"Did you find anything?" Jack says as he watches his wife and Janet Fraiser take samples from the floor of the locker room. Just an hour ago, the good doctor had done an ultrasound which had revealed that his child had suffered no negative side effects for its brief run in with a Jaffa pouch. Which, of course, made sense; after all, Jaffa did have babies.

"Probably nothing we can use. Maybe we'll at least get a cellular level analysis on the Goa'ulds, maybe we even find some DNA information."

Daniel shifts on his feet, and does an awkward self-hug, "A lot of that will probably be mine."

Janet glances back, making a note to have a talk with Daniel about dealing with rape pretty soon. She'll try to get him into therapy, but she already knows that he's probably going to say no to that.

"Ew," Jack says, and Janet wants to slap him. That was definitely not the appropriate reaction.


	23. Part 2 Chapter 17

**The Next Day**

A knock at his door? Daniel has lived in this apartment for months, and he's yet to have a single knock at the door. Not one stray Girl Scout selling cookies or a pair of Mormons looking to convert a lost soul. Why would he get a visitor now, on the day he least wanted one?

He opens the door, "Janet?" he says in surprise.

"Do you mind if I come in?" she asks, looking at the floor.

"Actually I'm not feeling too well," he lies.

Then he meets her eyes. She's laughing silently. He just said the absolute worst thing you could say when you're trying to get a doctor to leave your place.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

"Nothing, I'm fine," he says quickly.

"Oh, so you're not dealing with the fallout of what that bitch did to you?" she says.

There is a long moment of silence, and then Daniel says, "Are you here as a doctor or a friend?"

"Whichever one you need most right now. I also brought beer and sleeping pills. But you have to choose, you can't have both," she says, holding up a paper bag.

Daniel smiles, "Come on in."

"Was that yes to the beer?" she asks, holding the paper bag up again.

"Yeah," he says, taking the bag and setting it on the table. He pulls out two bottles, and then goes over to the cabinet to fiddle around a little bit for a bottle opener.

"Daniel, I'm really sorry about what Hathor did to you."

He shrugs.

"Daniel, what exactly did she do to you?" Janet presses.

He was broken. And no-one took the broken ones. When people found out that you were broken, they always sent you back. You don't have nightmares, you don't frown, you don't cry, and you hide the trauma whenever you can.

"Nothing, she didn't do anything," Daniel says quickly.

"Daniel," Janet says softly. He looks into her eyes. They are compassionate, but still… you hide the damage whenever you can.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Daniel, she took control of your mind. She made you do things that you didn't want to do. Whatever happened to you was not your fault. I'm not going to think less of you for whatever it was. Now tell me, how the hell did she get a hold of your DNA?"

Daniel is silent for a few long minutes, "Is this going to go into my file?"

"Not if you don't want it to, and if you can convince me you have all the help and support you need to get through this."

He sighs, "I contributed the 'code of life'."

"By conventional means?" Janet asks.

Daniel nods. There is silence for a little bit. Then he looks up into Janet's eyes. He sees such sympathy there that he starts to cry.

Janet moves over into engulf the man in her arms. "It's going to be ok."

"I'm sorry for blubbering all over you," Daniel mutters.

"Hey, I came here specifically to be blubbered over," she says with a little laugh.

And she stays, for a couple of hours. No-one ever before stayed when Daniel was wounded. Not ever.

**Two Days Later**

Jack walks into the kitchen where Sam is cooking with his arms crossed. "Is there a particular reason why my _son_ is spinning around the living room in a _dress?"_

Sam bites her lip. Jack came home early. She was hoping this would remain a secret until their wedding day. I mean, he wouldn't yell at her as they walk down the aisle would he?

"He thinks that dresses are much prettier than suits," she begins.

He raises his eyebrows, "Well, so do I. That's a good reason to hang out with girls in pretty dresses, not to _wear_ them."

Sam giggles, "He's three, it's probably just a stage."

"Samantha, I can just guarantee you that our son not going to make his cross-dressing debut at the grand old age of three at our wedding."

"Jack, this really isn't that big of a deal," Sam protests.

"Sam, it is. This isn't a little ring on his finger that he can take off if he changes him mind years later. This is a dress that he's going to wear at his parents' wedding. People are not going to forget this."

Sam pauses, "You know what, Jack, people also didn't forget the fact that I was the only female on the football team in high school. They didn't forget that I am in a male dominated career. And I really, and truly, don't give a crap."

"But you made those decisions when you were much older. He's three, and I will not let him make a decision that is going to affect the rest of his life," Jack says firmly.

"Jack, I want you to go in there, look that boy in his eyes, and tell me he doesn't know what he wants out of life."

Jack throws his head back with an air of surrender. "All right, but so help me, if our kid ever gets beat up for this, I am blaming you."

Ty runs into the room, "Mommy, can you paint my nails to match the dress?"

"Honey, I don't think we should push our luck," Sam says, looking at her husband's face.

"Come on, Sam, you can do mine too," Jack says with an air of complete surrender.

She blinks at him in shock.

"I know you have some of that clear nail polish stuff," he says.

Sam giggles.

"I just have a couple of questions. What with my being pregnant and with you wearing a dress, exactly which one of is going to be walking down the aisle, and which one of us is going to be at the end waiting?" he asks, pulling her close to him.

Sam giggles into his shoulder.

"And when we dance for the first time, which one of us is going to lead?" he continues.

"Me, of course, I'm always the leader," Sam says.

"Except at work," Jack presses.

"Well, give me some time," Sam says with a sly grin.

"You are wearing a dress, right? You're not going to show up wearing your fatigues are you?" Jack continues to tease.

"Maybe I should wear my dress blues, just like you," Sam teases.

Jack makes a face, "Not really, right?"

"You don't like me in my Class As?" she asks. "And that is technically a skirt," she points out.

"I love you in your Class As, but on your wedding day, I want you in a long flowing white gown," he says with a little bit of pout.

"Don't worry, Jack. I was just teasing. I figure I can play the girl for once in my life."

"You'd better watch it, or I might show up in a hoop skirt," he warns.

"Really, Daddy?" Ty asks excitedly.

"No, Bud, not really," he says, picking up his son and balancing the boy between his two parents.

"'Cause dresses are fun, Dad."

"I'll take your word for it bit."

**Two Weeks Later**

Jacob smiles at his daughter as she sits before a vanity, finishing up the last of her make-up. "You look beautiful, sweetheart," he says.

"Thanks," she mutters, "How are you feeling?"

"It's a good day, Sammy, physically as well as mentally. I'm just glad that I got to be around for your wedding."

"Dad, you're going to be around for a lot more moments like this."

"I hope so," he says with a sad smile, standing before her and resting his hands upon her shoulders.

-0-0-0-

"Come on, Lilly," Ty says, taking his two-year old cousin by his hand.

"They're all going to be looking at me," she whispers.

"No, they're all going to be looking at me," Ty corrects. Sam giggles behind the two children, knowing that truer words have never been spoken.

"What if I trip?" she asks, looking down at the shoes that she hated. Sam's sister-in-law had a fight to get the kid out of her tennis shoes and into her Mary Janes. The whole time, her month-old baby brother had been crying, wanting Mommy to pick him up.

If it had been Sam's kid, she would have let her wear the tennis shoes, and picked up the baby. She has really reached the point in her life that she doesn't give a crap what other people think of her. How could you, with a pregnant husband and a son in a dress?

"If you trip, I'll trip bigger," her cousin confidently replies, taking her hand.

"Ready!" the girl says to her mother. The ushers open the doors of the church, and the two children walk down the aisle in matching dresses.

Sam hears the snickers and shocked gasp of the crowd when they see Ty. She closes her eyes, hoping that that isn't going to destroy her son. But then she looks over, and he's walking down the aisle with a slow and patient 'right, together, left, together' step that she taught him. He's so focused on keeping time with his cousin, walking in perfect symmetry, that he doesn't realize the effect that he's having on the rest of the room.

When the cousins reach the front of the church, they look at each other, and do something that was obviously planned. They spin in a rapid circle, causing the dress and the petticoats to lift. Sam is relieved that her husband talked her son into wearing shorts under the dress. And she finds herself wishing he'd had the same discussion with his niece.

Sam hears her father behind her make a snort.

Mark and his wife link elbows at the entrance to the chapel. They follow the children down the aisle with the same step. Next, Janet and Daniel look at one another for one second before they link arms. Daniel's face takes on a bit of a blush. Janet squeezes his elbow in hers and whispers, "Here we go."

About halfway down the aisle, Daniel messes up the footwork, and pulls Janet to a complete stop. They stand in the middle of the aisle, and Daniel's face is beat red. Janet starts up the footwork with a strange little hop. It's impressive enough that she can do that in heals (although not surprising, Daniel muses, he's seen her run in heals often enough) that it distracts the attention from him. Teal'c, walking in by himself behind, starts his walk a little early to further take attention off the blushing anthropologist. Teal'c is wearing a stocking cap on his head. Sam tried to talk him into a more formal hat, but Teal'c was almost as stubborn as her son.

Sam walks up the door, and everyone stands up and turns toward her. Her stomach twists; she doesn't like having people focus on her.

"Ready, baby girl?" her father whispers.

She nods her head, and they start to walk down the aisle. Jack smiles at her from his place in the front of the chapel. His stomach is bigger than hers. She's been trying to match for most of the pregnancy, but if she wore the right size today, she wouldn't have fit in the dress.

She grins back at him. It's finally happening, what should have happened years ago. They reach the front of the chapel, and her father grabs her right hand at the elbow, extending it to Jack. Jacob's hand shakes a little at the motion, and Sam can't be sure if it's from physical weakness or emotion. She turns to her father to smile, and sees that there are tears running down his face. Jack take the hand that is offered him with his left hand, and reaches his right hand around to hold Jacob's for one long second before pulling him into a hug.

"You take care of her, Jack," her father whispers spontaneously.

"We'll all take care of each other," Jack responds.

A few minutes later there it is time for them to say their vows. Jack turns fully toward her, and takes both of her hands in his, "Angel, you saved me on the day that we met. Little did I know that that would be the least amazing thing that you ever did for me." Sam smiles, "You are amazing, a national treasure. And I am beyond lucky that you are choosing to share your life, your father," at this Jacob tears up again, "And our son with me. I am so excited about this adventure that we are beginning together." He swings her hands a little awkwardly, "So, ah… yeah, I love you."

She grins at him, "My turn?" she whispers.

"Well, you know me and words," he whispers back as he shrugs.

"You did great," she assures him.

"Jack, I would have to say that you've done some pretty amazing things for me as well." Here there is laugher in the room, but only form the SGC contingent, those who know that he is doing the truly amazing thing of having a baby. "I love you, Jack. I loved you, illogically, from the first moment that I saw you. And if you know anything about me, you know that I don't often go against logic. But you were worth going against logic. When we broke up," she takes a breath, "It nearly destroyed me. And I am unbelievably grateful for this serendipity that brought us back together. There is no way that I am ever going to let you go. You make my life interesting. From the strange hallucination ramblings that came out of your mouth when we first met, to the proposal which involved fish guts, and the incredibly sweet way you are with our son. I am excited to begin a life with you. And I can already tell, that life, over the next few months, and years, it's going to be bumpy," she looks at her father here, "But it's also going to be wonderful."

"Do you take this women to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, through sickness and health, as long as you both shall live?" the pastor asks.

"I do," Jack says, looking at his wife with love in his eyes.

"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, through sickness and health, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Sam says.

"You may now kiss the bride," the pastor informs them.

Jack puts his right hand on the small of Sam's back, and his left encircles her shoulder. She thinks nothing of the embrace until the moment that his lips make contact with hers. Then the swings her down into a swoop. She lets out a little squeal of surprise, and her veil goes flying off her head.

Ty runs over, and picks it up, and holds it out to his mother, "You dropped this, Mommy."

Sam pulls back from Jack's lips enough to say, "Thank you, baby," as she takes the veil out of his hand and holds it above her head with one hand. The crowd behind her breaks into laugher.


	24. Part 2 Chapter 18

**Spoilers for "Singularity"**

Sam decides to play nice, and actually let Jack lead, at least during their first dance as a married couple. He is, after all, a very good dancer, but there is something off about him tonight.

"Honey, are you ok?" she asks softly.

"Back hurts a little bit," he confesses, "I'll be fine."

"It was that dip," she says lightly, smacking his back, "You shouldn't have done that while pregnant."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Even in the early stages of pregnancy, it can make you more prone to injury, and you aren't really in the early stages of pregnancy anymore," Sam scolds.

"Well, I won't do it again," he whispers in her ear.

"Remember the way that we danced on our first date?" she asks.

He nods.

"You made me feel so safe," she says.

"Past tense?" Jack asks, pulling back from her warm embrace to look at her.

"I haven't felt safe since Ty was in that hospital bed," she confesses.

He runs a hand up and down her back, "Sammy, we're never going to let that happen again. You are safe."

And then, for the first time in a long time, she believes it. She leans her head against him, and lets go. He feels the moment that she relaxes in his arms, and grins. The music ends, but Sam doesn't notice. Jack pulls away, and Jacob takes his place.

"I'm happy for you," Jacob whispers to his daughter as soon as she is in his arms. "I still think that you and Jack should go somewhere on a honeymoon."

"We've been living together for a while, and we're pretty close to having two children. It's just not the right time."

"I feel like this is because of me, because of my cancer. Sammy, the last thing in the world I would want to do is rob you of even the littlest bit of happiness. I don't want to be the reason that you don't get this."

She smiles, "You're not."

He gives her his patented 'you've-got-to-be-kidding-me' look.

"You're not the whole reason, Dad. We're going to have another baby, and work is crazy right now. And Jack and I, we never do things in the right order. There is not some law that the honeymoon has to come right after the wedding."

"If it doesn't, they don't tend to call it a honeymoon," Jacob protests softly.

"We'll have our honeymoon sometime when we won't have a million other things on our mind," Sam says.

Jacob smiles at his daughter, "I'm so proud of you. Not just for the wedding, for everything that you've done, everything that you are."

Sam tears up, "Thank you, Daddy."

**The Next Day**

Sam glances at the clock the day after her wedding. It's eight o'clock. Ty never sleeps past six. So either her father woke up early to intercept the kid, or her son is sick. She gets up and wanders through the house, looking for her boys. They are nowhere to be found. She goes into the backyard, calling to them, but still nothing.

She runs back up into the bedroom that she shares with her husband frantic, "Jack, get up, and call… I don't know if we should call the SGC or the police!"

"What happened?" he asks sitting up frantic.

"Ty and Dad are missing!" she exclaims.

He laughs.

"It's not funny, Jack!" she says.

"C'mere honey," he says, holding out his hands to her. "They are fine, and I promise to never ever surprise you again. I promised you a long time ago that we would spend the whole day in bed. Life kind of got in the way. But if we aren't getting a honeymoon, I figured we could at least get a whole day alone in bed."

"They're fine?" she asks.

"They left for Daniel's apartment last night after we were in bed. They're going to come back tomorrow morning."

"Did you forget that you actually kept your promise to spend the whole day in bed with me?" she teases.

"Yes, but neither of us is sick this time," he says.

"Well, then it will be much more fun," she says.

"Yep," he says, kissing her.

**Two Weeks Later**

Sam looks at the little girl in front of her. Actually, this girl isn't so terribly little. She is probably around ten or eleven.

"It's okay. Don't worry, everything's going to be fine. Can you hear me? You're very brave," she tells the small girl. The girl looks at her, but still doesn't say anything. Sam knows that if her son were in this little girl's shoes, he would be terrified of the mask that she is wearing on her face to protect her from germs. That is probably it. Sam turns to Janet and asks if she can take her mask off.

"I think that'll be okay. Looks like we're dealing with a bacterial infection. Just don't get too close."

She pulls off her mask so the little girl can see her grin at her, "There, that's better, huh? You feel like telling me your name now?" The little girl stares at her, and then looks away. Sam speaks in her most encouraging voice, "That's okay. You remember my name? Samantha Carter. But you can call me Sam."

Cassie takes the tag that these people had given her dead friend, and snaps it on her hospital gown. Sam's heart aches at the pain in the little girls' eyes when the focus on her once again, "Oh, no. No, honey. You're not going to die. Why don't you just lay down and rest for a while, okay? Okay." Cassie lays back down, but refuses to let go of the tag.

-0-0-0-

Daniel wonders if she saw her parents die. When he was a kid, other people seemed to think that was the saddest part of what happened to his parents. He never did. The fact that he would never again bend over a translation with his mother, or brush off an artifact with his father, that was the saddest thing for him. He remembers how grief doesn't come all at once. It comes in little absences, little holes in your life that spans years after years.

Samantha bends down to look in Cassie's eye, "Hey, you okay? Don't be afraid, I'll be holding your hand the whole way, all right? I know it looks kind of scary, but it's really a lot of fun."

Sam stands up, and takes the girl's hand. Daniel holds the girl's other hand. He tries to remember if anyone ever held his hand after his parents died. He doesn't think so. At least until Sara and Sha're, and that was different. Sam counts down, and the three of them jump into the wormhole.

-0-0-0-

Sam hasn't left Cassie's room since she arrived on Earth five hours ago. Daniel volunteers to go get Sam when she has a phone call that she has to answer. When he walks in, Sam is sitting next to the bed where the small child is asleep. Sam is stroking the girl's hair. Daniel remembers that his mother used to do this before he died. He really wishes there had been someone like Sam there after they died.

Sam moves a little, and Cassie wakes up. "Hey. How you feeling?" Sam asks. When Cassie doesn't answer, she doesn't press it. Daniel remembers how much trouble he got into for being a quiet kid, and he wasn't even non-verbal like Cassie. "Listen, I have to go somewhere for a little while. But you're not going to be alone. Daniel's going to be here the whole time. Remember Daniel?"

Daniel smiles at the girl, who looks just a little bit panicked.

"You're very brave, remember. I'll be back before you know it," Sam says.

"Please don't go," the girl begs.

"You feel like telling me your name?" Sam asks.

"Cassandra," she says.

"Hi, Cassandra," Sam says.

"I hurt," Cassie says. Daniel's heart clenches. No, this isn't fair. This kid has already been through enough emotional pain for a life time. She should be excused from all the physical pain as trade.

"Where?" Sam asks. Cassie taps her chest.

-0-0-0-

Cassie looks up at Janet, and says, "Thank you." Janet's heart melts a little. Janet hasn't had a patient that was a child for a long time. And Janet had forgotten, in the years since her divorce, how desperately she had wanted children.

"You are welcome," she says, smiling at the kid. Cassie makes it halfway across the room before a look of pain comes across her face. She grabs her chest, and then falls backwards. Sam scoops her up.

"Get her on the table!" Janet commands. Janet rushes over to feel her pulse.

"Oh, my God. What is it? What's happening?" Sam asks frantically.

"She's got an irregular heartbeat. She's in arrest," Janet says, calling a code blue into the intercom.

"What? What do I do?" Sam asks frantically, as Janet starts CPR and other people rush in to help. Janet falls into the familiar medical terms as she works to save the little girl's life. Even when a nurse uses the paddles, Janet maintains a clinical detachment. But the relief that she feels when the girls' heart restarts is not just the relief of a doctor. She thinks the kid might again be out of the woods, when she makes a horrible realization.

"Wait. Wait… wait…. wait… wait. Oh, my God."

"What is it?" Sam asks.

"Get me a chest x-ray, stat," she says to those around her. Then she looks at Sam, "I don't know. Listen," she says, handing the stethoscope over to Carter. There is a strange mechanical whirling sound beneath the heartbeat. This is not a good sign.

-0-0-0-

Daniel is sitting on a chair in the hallway outside of Cassie's room when she hears the girl wake up with the word, "Mom?"

Sam's voice is soft. Motherly. "Hey. You okay?"

"I was dreaming about my mom," Cassie says. The words are like a punch in Daniel's guts. He had so many dreams about his parents when he was a kid. They were so happy in the dreams, so blissfully happy, and that only made it worse when you woke from the dreams to the cold hard real world.

"You miss your mom very much?" Sam asks.

"I'm tired," Cassie says.

"Well, you should get some rest. Don't worry, everything's going to be just fine. And when you get better, I promise you I am going to show you all kinds of really wonderful things about this planet," Sam soothes.

"Promise?" Cassie asks timidly.

"You bet," Sam says, a little while before she walks out of the room.

As soon as she enters the hallway, Daniel stands up and asks, "How is she?"

"She's fine. Sleeping." Sam says.

Daniel wants to provide this girl with comfort. He needs to, in some confusingly cosmic way, "Um. Um, if you want… I can sit with her tomorrow. For a few hours," he stammers.

"No, I'm okay," Sam says dismissively.

"Okay."

"I just… I want to do this," Sam says firmly.

So do I, Daniel says in his head. Out loud he says, "Okay. But I guess what I'm saying is that you don't have to do this alone."

"Thanks," Sam says, rubbing his arm before walking away.

-0-0-0-

Daniel walks into the room to see the small girl tossing in the bed. He stands next to Sam as she says, "How could they do this?" with more heart than he usually hears from his teammate.

"Well, to the Goa'uld, she's not as we see her. She's a tool. Her death is a very cheap way to get rid of us," Daniel says.

"I know I'm supposed to be detached," Sam cries.

He looks at her with surprise, "Who said that?"

"Sometimes I forget you're not military," Sam whispers with something that is almost a laugh.

Daniel wonders to himself if that was supposed to be an insult. A year ago, he never would have imagined that anyone would mistake him for a member of the military.

Has he really changed that much?

**Two Days Later**

Daniel still can't believe that Cassie almost blew up. They had taken this little girl, made her watch everyone she knew die, and then put a bomb inside of her heart.

He also can't imagine that this little girl is going to be ok. That she is playing at the park right now. He and Sam each have a hold of her arm, and they are swinging the girl between them. This is one of the things that he'd forgotten about before his parents died. How many other sweet little things did parents and children do with each other that he didn't remember?

Jack and his son appear from the other end of the park. "Cassie! Come play with our dog!" Ty shouts.

As soon as Cassie runs after the dog, Daniel turns to Sam, and says, "So, how sure were you, really?"

"I can't explain it, Daniel; I just knew," she says with a shrug of her shoulders.

Teal'c joins them from behind, and says, "Mother's instinct, perhaps."

Sam shakes her head ever so slightly, "Subtle, but no. Jack and I talked about it, to be sure. But with Ty, and the baby on the way, and Dad's cancer, it's just not the right time. Dr. Fraiser is going to take her until we can find qualified parents."

Daniel's heart jumps. Wait, _Janet_ is taking the kid? Temporarily, he reminds himself. It's always temporary; he should have learned that from his own childhood. "By qualified, you mean ones with the right security clearance." He says glibly, hoping that it will cover his internal turmoil.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Dr. Fraiser wants to keep her for herself. As long as Cassandra's happy," Sam says.

If Janet kept her, then Janet would have a kid. It might not matter anymore that he couldn't give her one. And he would have the chance to be involved in making this kid's life stable and good. He thought, maybe, he could remember all the things that would make her more comfortable. All the things he spent lonely nights longing for when he was a child.

"She appears to be happy," Teal'c says.

"And I wasn't completely at ease until I learned the object was shrinking and being reabsorbed into her system," Sam says.

Cassie come running up, "Sam, your dog is awesome!"

Sam smiles, "Well, it's not exactly my dog."

Cassie gets a little pensive then, "When you find me a new home, will you come and visit me?"

Sam grins at her, "You betcha. All the time."

Daniel longs for Cassie to ask him that question. He was there for her too. Not like Sam was, but that was the kid's choice, not his. That girl needs so much. Daniel discovers with surprise that he too has needs, bubbling under his surface. He needs someone to need him.


	25. Part 2 Chapter 19

**Two Days Later**

Cassie jumps way up in the air when the doorbell rings.

"It's ok, honey, that's just an Earth way of letting someone know that there is someone at the door." Janet peaks through the keyhole, and sees nothing but a giant teddy bear. "What is going on?" she mutters to herself.

She opens up the door, to see that Daniel is being smothered by the bear. "Ah, hi, Dr. Jackson."

"I, ah… brought something for Cassie, if that's ok."

"Sure. Come on in," Janet says, moving aside.

"Hey, Cassie," Daniel says, handing it to her.

"What am I supposed to do with that?" she asks.

"Hug it when you're having a bad day," Daniel says.

"Thanks," Cassie says.

"Ah… I also got you something else, I just don't want you to misunderstand it," Daniel says pulling in a colorful suitcase in from outside. "Cassie, when I was little, my parents died. And I grew up in foster care. I came from a different culture too, and then suddenly I was America-bound, and a little bit lost. And I got moved around a lot, and every time that I moved, I had to pack up my things in garbage bags. And it made me feel like I didn't belong. I couldn't stand the thought of that happening to you. So I got you suitcases, but then I started to worry that you were going to think they meant I wanted to you leave. I don't. I just want you to feel like you belong."

"I love the thought, Daniel, but that suitcase isn't going to be used for anything but vacations. Cassie and I are working toward adoption. George has been great about helping us cut through the paperwork."

He turns to her with eyes sparkling, "Adoption, really?"

"Yeah," Janet says.

"That is fabulous news," he says to Cassie.

She nods her head.

A buzzer goes off in the kitchen, "Earth is really loud," Cassie says.

"This one means dinner is ready," Janet says, walking into the kitchen.

"Oh, you guys were going to eat. I don't want to interrupt, I should probably go," Daniel mutters very slowly, waiting for someone to interrupt him.

Cassie obediently waits until he's done, and then says, "You should stay."

"Yeah?" he asks, glancing at the quickly-retreating form of Janet.

"Yes, Daniel, stay," Janet tells him.

**Two Days Later**

"Sweetie, dinner is ready," Janet says, standing at the doorway.

"I'm not hungry."

"Ok, well, why don't the two of us go draw?" Janet says, trying to bribe her daughter with her favorite activity.

Cassie continues to lay face down on the bed without moving.

"TV, then?"

Nothing.

"We could go shopping, and get more clothes."

Again, there is no response.

"We can call someone on the phone." Cassie viewed the phone as a magical way to contact people in other places. She'd been so fascinated that Janet had bought one for her room, even though she thought her daughter was far too young for her own phone.

Cassie just lays on her bed.

"Cassie, tell me what I can do to make it better," her mother pleads.

And she hears a sob.

Janet is starting to worry that she isn't really cut out for this whole motherhood thing. She should be able to fix this, to make it better. Her daughter is suffering, and she can't do anything about it.

The doorbell rings, and Janet sighs as she goes to get it.

"Daniel, well, I'm a lucky girl to get a personal appearance twice in one week."

"I just thought I'd check in, I know how the first couple of weeks in a new placement can be. How is she doing?" Daniel asks.

"Great," Janet smiles.

"Yeah?" he asks, looking at her critically.

"No, not really. She wouldn't get out of bed. I can't do this, Daniel."

"Janet, after my parents died, I would have killed for a mother like you. Can I see her?" he asks.

Janet nods.

Daniel runs up the steps and pauses when he sees a crushed little girl in bed. It's harder to be around someone that is broken than it is to be broken yourself.

He walks around to the bed, and gives her a weak smile, "Tough day, little one."

She doesn't say anything.

He bends down before her. "You know it's ok to be sad, right?"

She looks at him surprised.

"Yeah. Sadness, despair, happiness, anger, loneliness – they're all ok things to be feeling, honey."

She looks at him with surprise on her face.

"You want some company?"

Cassie nods her head and scoots over. Daniel climbs into bed, and pulls her into his arms. "You're not alone, Cassie. You're never alone," he tells her.

-0-0-0-

Cassie's eyes pop open in horror. There are Goa'ulds under her bed. She knows there are Goa'ulds under her bed. She's too scared to say in this room alone for one more minute. But if she puts her feet on the ground, they will get her. She'd die. She needs Janet, but she doesn't have a way to get her.

Then Cassie turns to phone. She can reach it without putting her feet on the ground. She turns the light on and fumbles for the numbers by the phone. Daniel, he'll find a way to save her.

"Daniel, you have to save me," she says.

"Cassie, is that you?" Daniel says in a startled voice.

"Daniel, please," she says sobbing.

"Cassie, what's wrong?" Daniel asks, imagining all kind of situations involving everything from the NID to invasion of the world.

"There are Goa'uld under my bed," Cassie informs Daniel.

"Honey, there aren't any Goa'uld under your bed," he assures her.

"But there are," Cassie sobs.

"Listen honey, you have to go get your mom. As soon as your mom is there, and the light is on, everything is going to seem a whole lot less scary."

"But if I go get Janet, the Goa'uld will get me," Cassie says.

"Ok, look, honey, here is what we are going to do. We're going to hang up the phone. Then I'm going to call again. You're going to let the phone ring. And then your mom is going to pick up, and I'm going to explain this to her, and she's going to come in there and help you."

"But if Janet comes in here, the Goa'uld will hurt her."

"Your mother? No way, she's the slayer of Goa'uld, babe. I promise everything is going to be ok."

"Ok," Cassie says softly.

The seconds before Janet picks up the phone are among the longest in Daniel's life. "Janet…"

"Daniel? It's two in the morning."

"I know, I'm sorry, it's just Cassie."

"Cassie?" Janet sits up in shock. "What do you mean?"

"Don't panic. She's safe, she's just terrified. She had a bad dream."

"How do you know my daughter had a bad dream?"

"She called me."

"She called you at two in the morning?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I should probably go…"

"Yeah."

-0-0-0-

"Cassie," Janet says, standing at the doorway to her daughter's room.

"Janet, careful, there are Goa'ulds everywhere!"

"No, there are no Goa'uld on Earth. You're safe," Janet says, crawling into bed with her daughter.

"There were no Goa'uld on my planet, either," Cassie sobs.

"Oh, God, Sweetie, I know," Janet says.

"Are you going to go die too, Janet?" Cassie asks.

"I'm going to do my best not to," Janet says gently.

"No," Cassie pleads, digging nails into her side.

"Honey," Janet says.

"No, you can't leave me, Janet. No," Cassie cries.

"Ok, I promise not to die until you're all grown up," Janet says, running her fingers though her daughter's hair.

"Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise."

There is a long moment of silence then Janet says, "Why did you call Daniel?"

"'Cause I couldn't call you," Cassie says. Janet's heart swells with the knowledge that her daughter did want her. She was never sure; Cassie didn't show affection easily. She'd been reading books, and that was typical for kids who have just lost their parents. But she still needs to know that she's doing good for her daughter.

"You know, you actually can call me from this phone, too," Janet says.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's a little trick that most people don't know. If you call the number, and then hang up, it will ring. Then both of us can pick it up. So if you ever get scared in the middle of the night again, you can just do that, and I'll come."

Cassie nods her head.

"I'll always come for you, honey." Janet feels Cassie relax in her arms. "I love you, honey. Do you want me to stay?"

Cassie nods her head. Janet scooches over into a more comfortable position. "I love you, Janet," Cassie says not looking at her mom.

Janet's heart soars. She's said that to Cassie every day since Cassie came to live with her. But she's never gotten it in return, until now.

-0-0-0-

"Mommy and Daddy, Grandpa and I got you a present!" Ty says, running up to his parents as they walk through the door.

"Ah, and what is the surprise?" Jack asks, not really expecting an answer.

"A piece of paper," Ty says.

"Ah, and does this piece of paper have something written on it?" Sam asks with a smile.

Ty nods.

"And what does it say?" Jack prompts, enjoying the fact that Ty wasn't understanding his mother.

"Daddy, you know I can't read," Ty says.

Jacob comes up behind, and hands them an envelope. Sam opens it up, "Two tickets to Hawaii."

"You never got your honeymoon. I've already cleared the time off with George," Jacob says with a big grin.

"Dad, I really appreciate this, but it's too much," Sam says.

"Too much? We're family, Sam. And you guys have been amazing with me for a long time," Jacob protests.

"It's just not the right time," Jack protests.

"And what would make it the right time?"

"Sometime when I'm not huge with pregnancy," Jacks says.

"Hey, this would be a week break from my prosthetic stomach," Sam says.

"You don't want to do this because I'm sick," Jacob says.

"Jacob, that's not all of it."

"I got a clean bill of health," Jacob says with a grin.

"You're kidding?" Sam says.

Jacob shakes his head.

She pulls him into a hug, and makes a squeal.

"Done with chemo, eh?" Jack asks, joining the hug.

"Dad, I am so happy, but that doesn't mean we have go on a vacation," Sam says.

"You missed it because of me. I want you to have this," Jacob says. "I've got the kid, and the pets."


	26. End of Part 2

**A week Later**

"I refuse to wear a bathing suit," Jack says with a pout.

"Why not?" she asks.

"Classified."

"Oh, come on, no one is going to think you're pregnant. Jack, this is the swimsuit I brought along," Sam says, holding up a tiny bikini, "And the only way you're going to get me to shed my fake baby belly and put this on is if you don some trunks."

"Well, alright then," he says, grabbing his swim trunks and going to the bathroom, singing, "Itsy-bitsy teenie-weenie yellow polka-dot bikini".

Sam makes a quick change. Jack comes out of the bathroom, and looks at himself in the mirror. Sam comes up behind him, and wraps her arms around his stomach.

He pulls away.

"What's wrong now?" Sam whispers.

"It's just weird, you know," Jack whispers.

"I know. I remember when I was pregnant with Ty, I couldn't believe that there was a human inside of me. That I was capable of creating a human being. It's got to be much stranger for you. I mean, I knew my body could do that since I was young."

He shrugs.

"Jack, talk to me," she says, moving her hand up to her chest.

"It's nothing," he says quickly.

"But it is something, please share with me."

"I don't have a right to complain. I mean, you did this without me. And here I am, married to you. Getting support from someone who has already done this. Maybe those guys on that planet are right, that we can't really be equal until we share everything. But I can't help but wish that it was you instead of me," there are tears in his eyes as he ends this speech, and he really hopes that she is going to blame this on the hormones.

"So do I," she whispers, moving around him so they are facing each other.

"What?" he asks.

"I wish it was me, too. It's ok for you to be pissed about this. No one asked your permission on this. They altered your body so that you could have a baby without asking you. You have a right to be angry about this."

"You didn't really choose to have Ty either."

"I know, Ty was an accident. But this goes way beyond having an accident. If I woke up one morning with male reproductive organs, I wouldn't be entirely pleased."

"I know, Sam, but I don't even have to do labor. When this baby leaves me, it's not even going to hurt. How dare I wish pain on you?"

"You know, Jack, I don't think I've been fair to you. I've had these blinders on when it comes to pregnancy. I've been remembering all the things that I loved about it. You know… the connection that I felt to the baby. And the way that I had the right to eat whatever kind of food that I wanted. But I don't think I've been talking to you enough about the things I hated. I think part of the reason for that was I didn't want you to feel bad about not being there for me with Ty. But all it has done is made you feel like a bad father for hating the stuff that every pregnant person hates. I hated that I got tired so much faster than I did before I got pregnant. I hated the fact that I had to pee all the time. I hated the fact that I felt like an alien invader had taken over my body and my emotions."

"It is a little Goa'uld-like, now that I think about it," Jack says.

Sam glares.

He throws up his hands, and giggles, "Sorry, our baby is nothing like a Goa'uld."

"You got that right," Sam says.

"About that having to pee thing," he whispers.

**The Next Day**

Janet walks into Daniel's office, doing a pretty good impression of his insecure self-hug. "Dr. Jackson, may I have a word with you?" she asks.

Daniel looks up from his artifact with a wide grin on his face before he sees her facial expression. "Sure. Is Cassie ok?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. You seem to have a lot of interest in my daughter." The accusation in her eyes is beyond a doubt.

His mouth drops, and his stomach sinks at her words. He debates fleeing the room without saying another word. Then he could go somewhere to scream or to cry, he wasn't exactly sure which one he was more likely to do right now. But instead he decides to do something uncharacteristic for him, stand up for himself.

His voice is icy and even as he says, "I had these two foster sisters when I was a kid. Their dad did that to them, when they were, little maybe eight and six. It destroyed them. You have to know that if ANYONE tried to do that to Cassie I would kill them with my bare hands. I am _not_ attracted to little girls, Janet."

"Well, what am I supposed to think?" Janet accuses, "You seem to have no interest in me until I adopt a little girl. Then suddenly you're over at my place all the time, cuddling her in bed, and she's calling you in the middle of the night."

"She's scared, Janet. She's scared just like I was when I was her age. I'm trying to help her through this! And I liked you before you got Cassie. It's just… I didn't see it going anywhere until…"

"Until what?" Janet asks, searching his eyes.

"You left your husband because he didn't want to have kids. I couldn't give you kids. I thought maybe after you had a kid, it wouldn't have mattered as much," Daniel blurts out.

"Wait, what do you mean you can't have kids? I'm your doctor, and there is nothing in your file about infertility."

"Yeah, well it wouldn't be. There is nothing official. I mean, I've never been tested or anything."

"But you were married for a year," Janet says understanding.

"I already broke one woman's heart by not being able to give her the baby that she wanted. I was not about to do that again."

"Daniel, most couples do have a baby after a year of trying. But there could be a million other reasons that it didn't happen for you. I mean, it could have been Sha're. Or it could have been the fact that you were from different planets. Thousands of years' worth of totally separate evolution could have made you guys incompatible. I can arrange for you to have a test."

Daniel shifts on his feet, "I don't exactly have a reason to. I mean… I'm not planning on having any kids right now."

Janet smiles, "I know, but you _are_ making life decisions based on what might be faulty information. If you find out you can't, you're going to be fine. There are lots of ways to have a baby. And if you were really listening to me talk about my husband, you'd know the fact that he made decisions about our lives without including me. Kind of like you just did."

Daniel hangs his head with a quick smirk.

"I'm kind of hoping that you are able to have a baby, because a little kid with your genes would be pretty amazing. But I love my daughter, and if she's the only kid I ever have, I am going to be deliriously happy," Janet adds.

Daniel blushes.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier," Janet presses.

"It's ok," Daniel says dismissively.

"No, it's really not. You let people off way to easily when they are cruel to you," she observes.

"I'm used to it," he confesses.

Janet smiles at him, "So, I'm going to make you an appointment with a friend of mine who works with fertility. And if you wanted to come over for supper with Cassie and I tonight, you could."

"I'd really like that," he says with a bashful smile.

Janet is almost out of the room before she returns for a little bit more honesty. "Ah… I have to be honest with you. I think what I said before… which is completely out of line. It might have been partly caused by the fact that I've been a little bit jealous of you."

"What?" Daniel asks.

"You're so good with her. You always do the right thing, and you say the right thing."

He laughs, "Janet, I've been watching you, and wishing that I could have had someone like you after my parents died. You are an amazing mother."

Janet bites her lips to keep the tears from coming.

"As long as you are loving her, that is all that she is going to need."

**That Night**

"Daniel!" Cassie says, flinging her arms around him as soon as he comes through the door.

He bends down on the floor with one knee, "Hey, little one, how are you?"

"Great! I painted a picture in school. I'll get it for you!" she exclaims, running out of the room.

Janet shakes her head at her retreating daughter, "I don't understand. I mean, some days she's withdrawn and crying. Other days she's cheerful, like nothing bad has ever happened to her."

"Yeah, that's pretty typical with kids. They don't grieve like adults," Daniel says.

"I really appreciate having someone here who has actually lived through this to help me out," Janet admits.

Just then Cassie comes back, waving a piece of artwork from her school, and both of the adults focus on her.

-0-0-0-

Daniel pokes his head under the bed again, "Nice and safe down here. Not so much as a dust bunny," he proclaims. "You ready for bed, little one?"

"Daniel, are you and Janet divorced?" Cassie asks.

He blinks at her in surprise, "No, what made you ask that?"

"My friend Crystal's parents are divorced. She lives with her mom, and her dad comes to visit her sometimes. That's kind of like Janet, and you."

Daniel smiles, "Well, honey, divorce means that you used to be married, and you stopped being married. Your mother and I have never been married," he pauses, "Well, I guess that's not quite true. Your mother and I have never been married to each other."

"Oh, that's too bad," Cassie pouts.

"Why is that?" he asks, sitting down on her bed.

"'Cause"'Cause if you and Janet were divorced, then you would be my dad. And the judge would make you see me all the time."

Daniel laughs a little, "Well, sweetie, no-one has to make me see you. I might not be your dad, but I'm going to keep coming around. Do you think you'd mind too much if I just stayed your Daniel for a while?"

Cassie shakes her head, "But maybe if I'm really good, you'll be my dad someday?"

He sighs. He remembers well that uncertain aching longing for family. "You don't have to be good to have a daddy, honey. Whether or not you have a father has nothing to do with whether or not you are a good girl. You are always a good girl."

Cassie nods, but still looks sad.

And then Daniel does something he knows is just a little bit unwise. "Ok, kid, how about this. How about I become your dad, right now?"

Cassie's eyes light up, and she grins.

"The catch is, you have to keep calling me Daniel."

"Can you live with us now?" Cassie asks.

"No, but I'll keep seeing you," he says.

"Ok," she says cheerfully.

"'Night," he says, kissing her on the forehead.

"I love you, Daniel," Cassie says quickly.

Daniel pauses in shock. When was the last time that someone said that to him? Daniel thinks back desperately. Sha're said it, of course, but that had been in a different language. Sara had never said it. His foster parents had said a lot of kind things, but he can't remember any of them actually confessing their love for him. He is pretty sure that the last time anyone has told him that they loved him was his own parents.

"I love you, too," he says with tears in his eyes.

He steps out into the hallway, and is surprised to see Janet standing there. "I'm sorry, that was probably out of line."

"She needed that," Janet whispers leading him away from her daughter's door, "If you were serious in what you said in there, you can have a permanent job as her father, no matter what happens with us."

Tears come to his eyes again, "Thank you," he whispers.

"You want a glass of wine?" she asks.

He smiles and nods bashfully.

"So, Daniel, I've heard some pretty wacky rumors about some theories you had before you joined us."

"God, what did they say?" Daniel says with his cheeks going red.

"Did you really say that the pyramids were landing pads for alien space crafts? I mean, you're not wrong, I just can't figure out how you would have reached that conclusion?"

Daniel rolls his eyes, "I didn't say that. A heckler at a conference said that, right before they all walked out. People have misquoted me on that at lot, to add to the public mockery."

"Ouch, what _did_ you say?"

"That the Egyptian pyramids, language, and culture is a lot older than we thought it was. And that it came from somewhere else," Daniel says, getting the glasses while Janet gets a bottle of wine out of the fridge.

"Not really that far away from alien spaceships, my dear," Janet says.

"Well, thank you for that," he teases, "Where is your corkscrew?"

She reaches over him to get one out of a drawer. "Hey, you were right about the aliens."

"I was thinking more like a human culture that wasn't big on monuments, actually," Daniel says, taking the screw driver away from her to open the bottle.

"So how did you know about the really old language?" she asks seriously.

"My mom was a linguist. She was the one who traced the transition from pictographic to phonetic Egyptian hieroglyphics. I watched her do it. And when I was an adult, looking at the Latin, the earliest hieroglyphics, even Babylonian cuneiform… I saw the same patterns she saw."

"Daniel… you are WAY too modest. You credit someone else every single time that you accomplish something."

"I do not," he says, handing her a wine glass.

"Daniel, repeat after me; 'I am awesome'."

He giggles.

"I am so not kidding."

"Janet, please," he says, shaking his head.

"I am awesome."

"Yes, you are."

"Say it, grave robber."

"Archeologist, grave robber, just a difference in time."

"You're not changing the subject on me. Say that you are amazing."

"I am just a normal guy."

"No, Daniel. You are a guy who knows dozens of languages. You're the guy who figured out the Stargate in a week when no-one else could figure it out in years. You're the guy who wrote a really amazing paper on the cross-pollination of ancient cultures that should have rocked the academic world. And you have just about every women on base, few though they are, salivating over you. You, sir, are amazing."

He blushes.

"I'm not going to give up until you say it," she grins at him as she takes her glass of wine over to the couch.

He sits on the other side of the couch, "You are deluded enough to think I'm awesome."

"I'll accept that for now," Janet says, moving closer to him on the couch, "I'm going to get you to say it someday."

"So, I gather you read my article, from what you said earlier?" he asks.

"Ah… yeah, after Hathor, I wondered what was out there that you wrote. I read them all."

"All?" he asks, glancing at her in shock.

She nods her head.

"God, you didn't find the one the published when I was fourteen, did you?"

"The one about King Tut, yeah?"

"I blame my peers, they should never have published that paper," Daniel says.

"It was good, sort of medical, right up my alley.'

"It was adolescent, and cliché. It was about King Tut, for God's sake."

"I don't know, your theory about the chariot race death was pretty interesting," Janet says.

"You are a suck up."

"You need to learn how to take a compliment."

"This is really good wine, it reminds me of the summer I spent in France."

"That's giving a compliment, not taking one."


	27. Part 3 Chapter 1

**One Week Later**

Daniel stands at the door to Janet's lab, crossing his arms across his stomach. "So, I got your e-mail that my results are in."

"Yeah," Janet says, shutting the door behind him, "Why don't you sit down?"

Daniel sits down, and immediately begins to fidget.

She smiles at him, "You are fine, Daniel."

He blinks at her, "You're sure?"

"Well, there is a slight mobility issue, but you can definitely have kids. It might be part of the reason why it took longer with Sha're, but probably wasn't the whole reason. Daniel, you can definitely have kids, given enough time."

**One Week Later**

Major Boyd smiles as he watches his daughter, in a pink tutu, have a tea party with Sam and Ty. "It's nice for her to have some female influences. I mean, besides the nanny. Actually, Sam is a lot girlier than the nanny."

Jack laughs, "Well, that's a little ironic, because Ty is a lot girlier than Sam."

"You guys are great with kids," Major Boyd says a little mournfully.

"So are you," Jack defends.

"I'm not like you guys… I've seen you with them on the play dates; you get right in there, and join the game with them. I can't do that. I just… observe."

"You're a good dad," Jack assures the man before him.

"No, not really. If I was a good dad, I would quit my job. A single dad with no family support shouldn't work at such a dangerous job."

"The Stargate is quite addictive," Jack says.

"Listen, I want to ask you a question, and feel free to say no, but… I don't have any other options, and if anything ever happened to me…"

"You want us to take Emma," Jack says with a note of awe.

"I can understand, sir…" Boyd says.

"We'd be honored. I mean, I'd have to talk to my wife first, but we'd be honored. Of course, you're going to be fine, and never need us."

Boyd's eyes get wet, "I appreciate it."

"And now you and I are going to get in on this tea party," Jack says.

-0-0-0-

"Sam, we got asked a pretty important question today," Jack says as they climb into bed that night.

"Yeah?"

"Boyd asked us if we'd be willing to take Emma if anything ever happened to him."

"Us?" she asks with raised eyebrows.

He nods, "He said we're great parents."

Sam closes his eyes, "He doesn't know…"

"Oh, Sam, that wouldn't matter to him," Jack says.

"I'm not going to agree to take that man's baby girl unless he knows," she says.

"Ok, I'll talk to Boyd."

**The Next Day**

"So, is the secret out that I actually know where my office is?" Jack asks when Boyd appears before Jack's office.

"Only a few select people," he Major says with a smile. "So, did you get a chance to talk to Sam?"

"She was honored, but…" Jack starts to stay.

"Hey, man, you don't have to explain."

"No, she didn't say no, there is just something she wants you to know before we agree to this. When Ty was little, there was this thing with the nanny," Jack takes a deep breath, "The nanny was abusing and neglecting him. Sam was cleared of any wrongdoing, but she blames herself for not noticing. It's not going to happen again, Boyd. She doesn't let anyone watch Ty besides family."

"It wasn't her fault."

"I've been telling her that."

"I trust her with Emma. If I can't raise my daughter, there is no-one but the two of you that I would want to do that."

"Ok, then… start the paperwork."

"Really?"

"Yeah, man. But again, we're not going to need it."

**One Week Later**

"One more story, Daniel? About gods and demons?" Cassie pleads.

"Nice try, little one, but it was 'one more story' five stories ago," Janet says with a smile, "Bedtime."

"Night," Daniel says, kissing the girl's forehead.

"Another wine chat?" Janet asks when the girl's door is closed.

"I'd love it," Daniel says grinning at her.

"So, we've talked about our marriages, and our college experience, and _my_ childhood, but it seems like something is missing."

Daniel doesn't say anything.

"Daniel, was your childhood that bad?"

"I've talked a lot about my childhood, Janet."

"Yeah, with Cassie. I think it might be an edited version."

"My childhood wasn't awful," Daniel says, taking a much longer than usual sip of wine.

"But it wasn't great, either, was it?" Janet asks softly.

"Before my parents died… it was great. I was on digs with my parents all the time. My mom taught me language after language. My dad he taught me the tools, the theories, the history. I memorized all of the pharaohs in history."

"Including Tut, even though other pharaohs erased him from history?"

"Look who's been reading up on their Egyptian myths."

"With this job? Kind of a necessity," Janet smiles.

"So it has nothing to do with me?" Daniel says teasingly.

"So, your parents were a lot like you, they sound fantastic," Janet says, choosing to ignore his previous comment.

"I never really thought about it that way before," Daniel says.

"You never thought about how your archeologist and linguist parents were like you?"

Daniel takes a deep breath, "I wasn't like them when they were alive. I was a little rebel. I would read anything that didn't have to do with history. That was a bit of a challenge, because we only had a few books in our tent. But I'd get them from anywhere. And I used to love math."

"Math?" Janet asks with her eyebrows raise.

"Yeah."

"I've seen your checkbook," Janet says.

"Yeah, well record-keeping isn't exactly my thing. Man, I wonder what would have happened if they'd never died. I might not even be an archeologist."

"Well, whatever archeology lost, mathematics would have gained."

"I don't think I would have been a good mathematician."

"Which implies you are a good archeologist," Janet says.

"I never said that," he protests, "Besides, I'm not actually an archeologist anymore."

"Do you miss it?" she asks pulling her feet up under her, and leaning against him gently.

"Sometimes, yeah. But mostly I miss things that I never really had. I miss the respect of my peers."

"They're idiots," Janet says, kissing his cheek. He catches the side of the cheek with his fingers, and turns her toward himself, and then he kisses her.

**The Next Week**

"Hey, bud, are you playing with GI Joes?" Jack asks, sliding down on the floor to sit next to his son. Jack immediately regrets the decision. He's going to have trouble getting up, with his very tight and growing midsection.

"Yep," his son says cheerily as he smashes the faces of the GI Joe's together.

Ok, that had to be a mistake, Jack thinks to himself.

Then Ty mashes the faces together again. This time he holds them together for a while, and makes a smacking sound with his lips.

"Ah… what are you doing?" Jack asks, wondering if he doesn't really want an answer.

"They're kissing, Dad," Ty says.

"Right, of course," Jack says. He told Sam that he would be ok if Ty were gay, but he's finding that that might have been a lie. "Why are they kissing?" he asks.

"Because they're in love," Ty says, as if his father were dense.

"Right of course," Jack says. "Ty, do you want us to buy you… Barbies?" Jack never thought he would make a suggestion like that. But maybe if his son had some females in the mix, he wouldn't have males kissing.

"No, Barbies are lame," Ty says.

"No argument from me," Jack says.

"You want to play?" Ty asks happily.

Jack really doesn't want to play kissing boys with his son, but he doesn't see another choice. "Sure," he says.

"Here, you can have the Mommy doll," Ty says, handing his father one of the GI Joes.

"This is Mommy?" Jack asks, looking at the small masculine figure.

"Yep, and Mommy and Daddy are done kissing now. They're going to go save the world," Ty informs him.

Jack smiles, "Well, that sounds like a good plan to me son, how do we begin?"

**The Next Day**

"Hey, Ty, I got you a present," Jack says the next day when he comes home from work.

"What is it, Daddy?" he says running into the room.

Jack hands the bag over, and Ty unceremoniously rips into it. "Daddy, they make Mommy dolls!"

"They certainly do, son," Jack says, smiling at his son.

"You found a doll of me?" Sam asks, coming over. She looks at the female GI Joe in her son's hand.

"They aren't exactly easy to find, but yeah, he's been using his GI Joe's to act our life story. I thought maybe we could get one of the right gender."

"Thanks, Daddy," the boy says, flinging his arms around his father.


	28. Part 3 Chapter 2

**Two weeks Later**

"Sammy, the baby is coming," Jack says.

"You're sure?" Sam asks.

"There is a giant hole in my stomach

so yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"They said that it would take hours to develop the opening."

"Well, apparently a painless labor means that I missed that," he says, lifting up his shirt to show the opening at the top of his belly.

"Oh my gosh, we should be off-world by now," she says.

"We don't have time for that, just grab her!" Jack says looking into his open womb at his daughter. She looks up at him with a bemused smile on her face.

"I'm going to go wash my hands and get a towel, honey. You call Janet," she instructs, handing him the phone.

-0-0-0-

"Hey, baby girl," Sam says, pulling the infant out of her husband and wrapping her quickly in a towel.

"Why isn't she crying?" Jack asks with concern.

"I don't know. Her entrance into the world was much gentler than most babies. She's fine, though," Sam says, sitting down on the bed next to her husband and holding the baby.

"She's beautiful; she definitely looks like you," Jack says, smiling at his little girl.

Sam starts to cry.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Jack asks, concerned.

Sam leans against him, "Happy tears, the same thing happened when Ty was born."

"I wish I was there," he says.

"You're here for this one," Sam says.

"Thank god you were. It was a little scary," Jack confesses.

"I'm going to go wake up Dad. You alright?" she asks gently.

"Yeah. At some point, you're going to have to cut this umbilical cord."

"I'll start boiling water," Sam says.

"Really? I've heard that in shows forever, and I can't figure out what it's for," he says.

"Yeah, you can," she says with a smile, not buying his dumb act.

"Go sanitize us some scissors, babe," he says.

The baby starts to fuss, "Shh… baby girl, Mommy's coming back," he assures her.

-0-0-0-

Jacob walks into the room a few minutes later carrying a diaper and onesie. "Can't have a granddaughter of mine joining a nudist colony now can I?"

"Come see Little Miss Hannah," Jack says, holding the baby out to her grandfather.

"Oh, she's gorgeous," Jacob says, holding the baby up and putting a kiss on her cheek before laying her down on the towel to dress her in the diaper

"Was it really weird to give birth to her?" Jacob asks.

"I wouldn't exactly call it birth, and it was weird. But it was also really great," Jack says.

"Daddy?" Ty says, walking into the room, rubbing his eyes, "Is you sick?"

"Sorry we woke you, honey, your baby sister decided it was time to enter the world."

"Hannah came out of your belly?" Ty says, taking a tentative step closer.

"Yeah, come see her," Jacob invites.

Ty climbs up on the bed next to his father.

-0-0-0-

Janet walks into the room where Jack and his daughter are sleeping. Sam moves to wake her husband up, but Janet stays her hand. "I might be able to do this without waking him," Janet whispers, softly lifting the baby from his arms.

Jack startles awake. "How do you feel?" Janet asks.

He grins, "Great, did you see how beautiful that girl is?"

"She is," Janet says, giving him a smile, "Can you show me the hole in your stomach?"

"It's getting smaller," he defends.

She peers at it, before saying, "That it is. I brought the drink that's going to make your all of your female organs disappear within a week. At least, judging by what it did to the boys."

"Is Hannah ok?" Jack asks, taking the cup from her hand and taking a long sip out of it.

"She looks really good. I'm going to run some tests on her. You can go back to sleep now."

"Ok, doc," he says.

**Two Days Later**

Janet walks into Daniel's lab, and he smiles, "Did you want to go to lunch?" he asks, standing up quickly.

"Sure, Sam and Cassie are having a girl's day sleep over."

Daniel smiles, "That sounds fun."

Janet honestly can't believe how clueless her genius is sometimes, "So, my house is going to be pretty empty that night."

"Ah… you need someone to scare the monsters away from under you bed, too?" he teases.

"Yep, I'm going to need my daring anthropologist."

"Ok, see you on Friday."

**Three Days Later**

Suddenly Daniel pushes away from Janet, "I'm sorry I can't do this. It's too soon after Sha're."

"Ok, well, I'm going to need some clarification. When you say 'this' do you mean us, or just sex?"

"Oh God, Janet," he says, putting his arm around her, "I mean sex _tonight_. You're going to have to work a lot harder than that to get rid of me."

"You want to stay anyway? It's not like we're going to have a bunch of chances to spend the night together."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I can see that you don't want to send your daughter off all the time," he teases, moving his hand down to hold hers.

"No, I don't," she says wistfully.

"We could just tell her that I'm sleeping over," he says hopefully. He really doesn't like being a secret.

"She is only a couple of years away from being a teenager. Do you really want me to give her the impression that it's ok to have sleepovers with boys?"

"God, no," he whispers, making a terrified face.

Janet giggles, "You've never thought of Cassie as being a teenager before, have you?"

"Nope, she's going to stay a little girl forever," he says firmly.

Janet shakes her head, "Nope, sorry, we've only got two years before she hits her teenager years."

"I'm a little worried about this," he mutters, motioning between the two of them.

"Why?"

"People I love don't exactly have the longest life expectancy," he whispers.

"None of that was your fault. You're too smart to believe in some sort of curse," she says.

"I sure hope it has nothing to do with me, because I couldn't stand losing you or Cassie."

Janet smiles at him, "We're going to be fine, and I love you, too."

"I didn't quite say that, did I?" he teases.

"Ah, I believe you did. It was called an inference," Janet teases back.

"Inference, assumption, wishful thinking, whatever," he says.

Janet tickles him until he blurts, "All right, I said I love you!" he yells.

"That's right, and you can keep saying it," she says.

He repeats the words, "I love you," over and over, in between kissing her on her face and neck.

The phone suddenly rings. Janet reaches over, and picks it up. "Cassie? What's wrong? No, sweetie, I'm fine. Do you want me to come get you? You're sure? Ok, you just needed to hear my voice. Ah… yeah, Daniel isn't home," she says, looking at him in horror. "He's just at work. Ah, no… sweetie, why don't you let me call him, and tell him to call you? Yeah, he's just not in his office tonight, but I'll get a hold of him. I'm sure he's fine. Ok, I love you, honey."

Janet hangs up the phone, and Daniel reaches for it over her.

"You'd better wait a bit, because it would take a while for me to call you."

"But she's scared," Daniel complains.

"Just a few minutes," Janet says, giving him a kiss to distract him.

**The Next Day**

Sam comes into Janet's office the next morning, and squeals in delight.

"What?" Janet asks.

"You and Daniel!" Sam says.

"How did you know?"

"I have caller ID, and last night Daniel was calling from your number after midnight. Don't worry, Cassie didn't notice."

Janet grins, and takes Sam into a hug.

"Why is this a big secret?" Sam asks confused.

"It's not really a secret, it's just… we haven't really defined what we are," Janet says.

"Well, considering the fact that he spent the night at your house, I could do some defining for you."

"Thanks," Janet says sarcastically.

"I'm happy for you guys. You both really deserve this," Sam says with a grin.

"He definitely does. I mean, he's lost his parents and his wife. And he is so great with Cassie."

"Is it serious?" Sam asks.

"I think so," Janet says.

**Two days later**

"Daniel, is something wrong?" Cassie asks as he pushes her on a swing.

"Yeah."

Cassie puts her feet down to look at him.

"It's ok, little one," he smiles at her, "I'm just trying to figure out how to ask your mom something."

Cassie springs up, and wraps her arms around his neck. "You're going to ask her to marry you!"

"W… What? No." Daniel stammers, putting the girl down.

Cassie's lip quivers, "Don't you want to be my Daddy?"

He kneels down next to her, "Remember, babe, I am already your dad, ok? I love you. Your mom and I are still pretty new."

"But you'll marry her someday?" Cassie asks.

"Maybe," Daniel says with a smirk, looking toward the bench where the woman in question is sitting.

"Yeah, you're going to marry her someday soon," Cassie declares.

"You guys ok?" Janet asks, walking toward them with a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah, Daniel just wants to ask you a question," Cassie says flippantly, running off to the slide.

Janet stands with her eyebrows raised.

"Not that question," Daniel says quickly, blushing.

"Ah… ok," Janet says, and he looks at her face quickly, trying to see what emotions are playing on it.

"Cassie's birthday is coming up pretty soon," he fidgets.

"It is," Janet says, somewhat impressed that he had apparently committed the date into memory after hearing it only one time.

"I wanted to ask your permission on a present to give her," he says, his arms quickly crossing over his body insecurely, "I wanted to give her a chance to use those suitcases."

"And you're asking my permission after you told her?" Janet says, nodding her head toward her excited daughter.

"No, I would never do that. She thought… I was asking a different question," Daniel mutters.

"I see," Janet says, and then falls silent for a second, studying his face. His face goes red under the scrutiny. "If you ever decide to ask that question… at some point down the road, I'm going to need to know you're not just asking because Cassie wants you to," she says, looking away from him.

"If I was asking for Cassie, I would have done it. I'm waiting until this is right for all of us," he says, flashing her a smile.

She grins back at him, "So where do you want to take my daughter?"

"I want to take you, too. I was invited to an archeology conference. But I was thinking you guys could come down with me. I know that sounds boring, but you can go do your own thing when I'm at the conference. I was planning on staying a couple of extra days after the conference. It's only a half hour from Disneyworld."

Janet smile at him, "You got invited to a conference? It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

"Not really. I was invited to speak at the last one. Of course, the conference hall was full when I started and empty when I ended."

"Still, that was two years ago," Janet says.

Daniel nods.

"So I'm eye candy?" she asks.

"You're a lot more than eye candy," he protests.

"Don't get me wrong, dear, I like being eye candy."

"You're brain candy, too," he says with a grin. Janet feels quite pleased with herself, she taught the anthropologist to flirt.

"So, as a mom, I have to ask what your motive is in bringing Cassie? Is it about her? Or you?" she asks softly.

"I think it is time that she sees more of Earth than this town," Daniel says, watching her swing form the monkey bars. "You guys will have your own room, and I'll find somewhere with a pool. You guys certainly won't have to spend a whole bunch of time in boring lecture halls or anything."

Janet smiles, putting his hand into hers, "One room is fine. Cassie and I can share a bed. And we're going to go with you to at least some of the lectures."

"When are we going to tell her?" Daniel asks.

"Go ahead," Janet says, nudging him toward her daughter.


	29. Part 3 Chapter 4

"O'Neill, General Hammond has cleared me to see part of your world, provided I can secure a fellow member of Stargate Command as an escort," Teal'c says.

"Yeah? It's about time, where do you want to go with me?" Jack asks with a wide grin.

"I have a selection of cultural experiences I would like to partake in," Teal'c says, holding up a note.

"Museum, church, a _school board meeting_?"

"I wish to experience all vital aspects of your culture," Teal'c replies.

"I wouldn't call any of these vital aspects. Why don't we go to a movie or a national park?"

"I have seen many movies on your television. And I have seen the wonders of many worlds."

"Ok, true, but these things are all boring."

"If you do not wish to accompany me, O'Neill, I shall wait for Daniel Jackson to return."

"No, that's ok, we'll go out today and experience culture. I did promise you that I would show you my culture."

"I am especially interested in experiencing the worship of gods which are no Goa'uld," Teal'c says.

"Well, that I can understand," Jack says.

**The Next Day**

"I hope you didn't mind that I brought along Ty. He, too, wants to participate in this cultural experience," Jack says, as he pulls up to the gate where Teal'c is waiting for him.

Teal'c nods his head slowly, and gets into the passenger seat.

"I read the Bible in preparation for this event, is anything else required?"

Jack's jaw drops, "You read the entire Bible?"

"Indeed."

"You're going to be fine, most of the people in the church probably haven't even done that."

-0-0-0-

By the time they arrive at church, there are only a few minutes left before the service starts. They slide into a seat next to a young women. She shoots them a grin. Then everyone stands to begin the first song.

After the first song the pastor talks for a little bit, and then all the people in the church start shaking hands with one another. The girl sitting next to the SG-1, contingent moves over quickly, and extends her hands to Teal'c.

"Hi, I'm Shelby," she says.

"I am Teal'c," he replies.

"Interesting name. I've never heard it before"

"My name is a synonym for strength," Teal'c replies.

"It fits you," she says with a nod of her head.

"Jack O'Neill," Jack stays extending his hand.

"Nice to meet you," Shelby replies. "And who is this little one?"

"I'm Ty, and I've got a baby sister," he announces.

"You do, huh?" she asks.

"Yep, but she stayed at home with Grandpa 'cause she's a baby, and babies can't be good in church. Daddy doesn't think I can be good in church either, but he's wrong. Don't you think so?" Ty asks, showing a bit of insecurity at the end.

"See, I don't know you yet, kid. You're going to have to prove to me that you are old enough to be a good kid in church."

Just then the pastor begins speaking again, and the conversation falls silent.

-0-0-0-

"So, are you going to the fellowship afterword?" Shelby asks, once the final song has been sung.

"Ah… I don't think so, Teal'c has a pretty big list of things we're supposed to be doing, and we just didn't get very many of them done yesterday," Jack says.

"O'Neill, is this not part of the cultural experience?" Teal'c asks.

"Right, let's go eat," Jack says.

"Food? Do they have cake?" Ty asks.

"I don't know, bud, but it's only ten o'clock in the morning. I'm pretty sure you aren't having cake."

"But Daddy, I was really good in church," Ty whines.

"It's true, you were, but there isn't going to be any cake. There will, however, be caramel rolls, which are a totally legitimate breakfast food," Shelby says, with a grin toward the boys.

"Caramel rolls? That's one of Teal'c's favorite foods from the mess," Jack says.

"Ah, so you guys are Air Force. I can see that."

"I am not a part of your Air Force," Teal'c replies.

"Teal'c is a consultant with us, he's not from America," Jack explains, giving the man in question a glare for the amount of information that he is revealing.

By now the group is filling their plates up with the pot luck brunch. "So what do you do for a living?"

"Well, I guess that depends on the time of day. I am an RA for my building, and I waitress at a dive diner, and of course I'm in college."

"What's your major?" he asks.

"I was unaware that individuals not affiliated with the military have rank," Teal'c says in confusion.

"No, it's a different kind of major, Teal'c. It means what she's studying in college."

"Nursing," Shelby replies.

"Emma's mommy was a nurse, but she lefted Emma," Ty replies.

"Oh, that's horrible, is Emma your sister?" Shelby asks.

"No, she's my friend from daycare. But I don't go to day care 'more 'cause Grandpa isn't sick. So now she's just my friend," Ty replies.

The group sits down at one of their tables. "So what country are you from?" Shelby asks.

"Chulak," Teal'c replies.

Jack shoots him a glare.

"Do you consider yourself an expert on this religion?" Teal'c asks abruptly.

"Expert? No, but I know as much as the next person," she reveals.

"May I ask you some questions about the inconsistencies in this book?"

"Sure, but you know it's not really about the inconsistencies, it's about the story, and it's about the love," she explains.

"I am intrigued by the concept of a loving god," Teal'c says, looking seriously at the young women. "Where I come from, the gods show no mercy."

"What is your religious background?" she asks.

"I used to be in service of Apophis."

"Apophis, like the Egyptian god? I wasn't aware that people still worshipped him. And what does it mean, that you were in his service? Were you like a priest, or something?"

"You know what, Teal'c, I just remembered you were due back on base," Jack says.

"You previously informed me that we were going to teach me to skate," Teal'c says quickly.

"Another time," Jack says, lifting his son away from the half-finished plate and making for the door.

"Will you come again?" Shelby asks Teal'c.

"Indeed," he says, bowing low to her before Jack grabs him by the elbow to force him out of the building.

Once they are in the parking lot Jack hisses, "What the hell was that?"

"I believe that was a worships service dedicated to the benevolent god, Yahweh."

"I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about the giant leak you had going on there," he says.

"I did not notice the presence of any water, O'Neill," Teal'c replies, sans facial expression.

"You had a bit of on honesty problem back there didn't you? Chulak? Apophis? What were you going to tell her next, the fact that you were an alien?"

"I do not understand why honesty is a bad thing."

"You just can't tell them anything classified," Jack says, jumping open the doors to the pick-up.

"O'Neill, is my whole life classified?" Teal'c asks.

Jack pauses, and sighs before he says, "Yeah, bud, pretty much."

-0-0-0-

"Pssst, Daniel!" Cassie whispers, as she sits next to her father-figure in a crowded auditorium.

He leans his ear now so he can hear what she whispers to him.

"He's telling a lie," she whispers, "Nirrti isn't an Indian goddess, she's a Goa'uld."

"I know that, but they don't," Daniel whispers back.

"You should tell them," she says.

"Remember, the Stargate is a secret," Daniel whispers back.

"But they are making her sound like she's such a good person," Cassie says in a whining voice.

"Do you want to go outside?"

Cassie shakes her head, her eyes suddenly brightening, "There really is a world untouched by the Goa'uld."

Daniel nods her head, "And maybe one day there will be a whole universe that is free of the Goa'uld."

**The Next Day**

Cassie grips Daniel's hand as they stand in line for the Dumbo ride. She lets out a deep sigh.

"What's wrong, little one?" he asks, expecting an answer that has something to do with having to go to the bathroom, or being hungry.

Instead she says, "Can we go home yet?"

"Home? You want to go home?" he asks in shock. "You do realize that we are in Disneyworld, every little kid's dream, right?"

"Every kid from… you know, America," she says, catching herself just before she said Earth.

"But you love Disney movies."

"Sure, movies, when everything stays on a nice little TV screen, and you don't have to wait hours on black ground in the scorching sun to ride on things that make your stomach hurt."

"Cassie, we've been here four hours, why didn't you say something sooner?" he asks, bending down in front of her.

"You were so excited," she says simply, "But now the heat is starting to give me a headache as well as the rides giving me a stomachache. I don't think it gets this hot where I am from."

He picks her up, and starts walking backward out of the line, "Tell me if you don't want to do this, because we can just go sit in the hotel room if you want. But I know of a couple of really good museums in the area."

Her head perks up from his shoulder, over which it was drooped, "Seriously? There are museums in other places besides just Denver?"

"There are museums all over the world, darling," he says.

"And they have the special cool air don't they?"

"I'm sure they do, love."

"And do they have ice cream?"

"How about we get ice cream here before we leave."

"Is there going to be a really big line for it?" she asks with a skeptical frown.

"Strangely, no, the food lines are much shorter than the lines for the rides."

"Ok, then," she says, grinning as they approach the bench where Janet was waiting for them. "Mom, I hate Disneyworld, but it's ok, because there are museums in Florida!"

Everyone within ear shot turns to stare at the little girl with confused looks on their faces.

"My dear, sometimes I think you are Daniel's kid far more than you are mine," she says, taking the child from his arms into her own.

**Six Days Later**

"O'Neill, would you not accompany me to a religious service this weekend?" Teal'c asks.

"You want to go to church again? This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain blond would it?"

"Shelby was most helpful in my quest to understand Earth culture," he replies.

"Ok, sure, as long as that is all that is, because you have to have what, thirty years on her?"

"I believe the number to be closer to fifty years."

"Fifty years? Really, you're over seventy?" Jack asks in shock.

"Indeed."

"Wow," Jack says with raised eyebrows, "Ok, off to church we go."

**The Next Day**

"You have injured yourself," Teal'c says, as he shakes Shelby's hand during the church service the next day.

"It's nothing," she says, trying to pull her short sleeves over large and four-appendaged bruise just before her elbow.

"It is a substantial injury," Teal'c insists.

"I just ran into a wall," Shelby says.

"Don't you mean a door?" Jack asks, with sarcasm obvious in his voice.

"I believe this injury was caused by a human hand," Teal'c says, looking at Shelby.

"I'm just clumsy," Shelby says, taking a few steps away from them in the pew, sitting down, and staring at the front of the church, even though the pastor is still shaking hands in the third row.

Teal'c is undeterred by this. He sits down next to her, and says, "I will seek revenge on whoever has injured you."

"I've got this," she says.

"If you did not require assistance, you would not have been injured."

"I injured them back, ok? I'm fine," she says.

Jack scoots over next to the two of them, and is suddenly glad that Ty didn't want to wake up this morning for the church service. "Come on, Teal'c is a seriously scary. One look at him, and whoever did this to you is never going to hurt you again."

"I was my fault, I was dumb enough to go home. My mom gave me some crap about how everything is good. They're both sober, and she's my mom you know. I haven't seen here in years. But as long as she chooses to live with that ass, she is going to stay out of my life," Shelby says.

"You should file charges," Jack says.

"Oh, the cops know enough about him. I was emancipated at sixteen, and I told them all this stuff then. I just don't want to go through telling them all of this again."

A song starts, and the conversation ends.


	30. Part 3 Chapter 5

**The Next Day**

"Janet, do you want to go to lunch with me today?" Daniel asks early in the morning, standing awkwardly in the doorway to her office.

"Sure," she says with a smile.

"You know, like, maybe at my apartment," he prompts.

"Do you have food there?" Janet asks skeptically.

"Yeah, I have food," he fidgets, "But I was thinking maybe we could, ah… Cassie is going to be at school," he blurts.

Janet smiles at him, "Are you sure you're ready? We can wait as long as we need to."

He walks in and shuts the door behind him. "I love you, Janet. You make me happy, and I feel so guilty about that. But Sha're told me that she wanted me to be happy. And if I were the one that died instead of her, I would be pissed if she kept herself from happiness because of me."

Janet just nods her head.

"I'm ready," he says confidently.

"Ok, you're going to pick me up eleven-ish?"

Daniel smiles and nods his head. His hand goes so far as touching the door handle before he suddenly turns around and takes a rapid step toward her. Between the length of his legs, and the smallness of her office, he is right in front of her. He gives her a quick but romantic kiss.

-0-0-0-

Sam sits up with a start when she hears her daughter crying in the middle of the night. "I've got her," Jack says quickly, moving to get his daughter.

When he comes back into the room a few minutes later, Sam is crying. "Oh, no, what is wrong?" Jack asks quickly.

"Nothing," she says, taking the baby out of his arms and moving her shirt so she can start breastfeeding.

"Samantha, don't lie to me," he says, sitting down next to her on the bed.

"You weren't there with Ty. When he cried in the middle of the night, it was all me. I lived with my dad the first couple of months, but he didn't usually hear the baby in the middle of the night. I was all alone."

"I'm sorry," Jack says softly.

"I'm not blaming you," Sam protests.

"I know, but it's not right that you had to do this alone the first time."

"It's also not right that you missed so much time with your son," Sam says.

Jack shrugs. He knows that, but he knows Sam feels guilty about it and him agreeing won't help.

"Let's just make a deal to focus on the present and the future," Sam says, rubbing the tiny baby's back. Hannah pulls away from her mother, and lets out a giant burp, causing both of her parents to laugh.

**Six Days Later**

"Thank you for accompanying me to this religious festival, Samantha Carter," Teal'c says as the two of them walk into church.

"No problem. I actually petitioned you to be allowed off base by yourself. I haven't heard back on that yet though."

He nods his head.

"You have a different babysitter this week," Shelby says cheerfully as they take their place in the pew.

"This is O'Neill's wife, Samantha Carter," he replies.

"I hear you've got a new baby at home," Shelby says.

Sam grins, "She's a sweetheart."

"I assume you have pictures," Shelby gushes.

"Of course," Sam says, reaching into her purse.

-0-0-0-

As they're singing, suddenly Shelby sits down. She leans against the pew, and holds her head.

"What has happened?" Teal'c asks sitting down next to her.

Sam looks into the girl's eyes, and sees what she missed with her son. "When is the last time you ate?"

"I'm fine," Shelby says.

Samantha Carter is a mother, so she always has food on her. She pulls a granola bar out of her purse, and hands it to her.

"I'm fine," she repeats sternly.

"Eat it, honey," Sam says, moving over to the other side of the pew so she's sitting next to her.

"Are you not receiving the sustenance you require to survive?" Teal'c asks with concern.

"Look, its fine. I don't need you pity, and I don't need your food. My little sisters are still living with my mom. Mom doesn't keep around that much food. So I bring them food from my meal plan when I can. It ran out a couple of weeks ago. The new semester is starting soon and I'm going to be fine."

"Look, sweetie, I get the pride thing. And I definitely get the depriving yourself to help others thing. But I wouldn't offer you help unless I could really offer the help."

"Thanks," Shelby says, hiding the granola bar in her hand and taking furtive bites of it, much like Cassie did with a hot dog when they first found the little girl.

"Major Carter, would you be willing to loan me money? O'Neill has secured all of my income from the Air Force in one of your financial institutions."

"Of course," Sam says, at the same time that Shelby says, "I don't need nothin'."

"When I was a child, my father was dishonored and killed for failing to win an unwinnable battle. My mother and I were sent into another country without any resources. There were many times when I did not have the sustenance that is necessary to survive. When I was offered food, I did not refuse it."

Sam nods. "After church, I am going to take you out to eat, and then we are going to go grocery shopping."

"But there is no reason for you to feel sorry for me," Shelby says out of the corner of her eyes.

"Why would I feel sorry for someone who demonstrates such strength, courage, and compassion?" Teal'c asks.

"Oh, you talk so good," Shelby says with a sultry smile as the church service begins.

-0-0-0-

"You are supposed to take off your hat when you eat," Shelby says.

"I have been instructed never to take off my hat when I am in public," Teal'c replies.

"Man, they have you on a pretty short leash," Shelby says.

"No-one has bound me," Teal'c says, looking at her with a confused expression on his face.

Shelby laughs before she says, "No, man, that's like a figure of speech. It means that they don't let you do many things."

"I have applied for asylum in your country. I feel fortunate that they have allowed me to leave the base. It was a year before I earned that privilege."

"A year, they kept you in prison for a year? Dude, seriously, what did you do?"

"It was not prison, and I was a warrior for their enemy," Teal'c replies.

"What enemy? The cold war is over, and we're not at war with anyone."*

"I have been instructed not to lie to you, and yet there are many things which I am not at liberty to disclose to you."

"Gotcha, you can just stay silent instead of lying, you're really good at staying silent."

"That he is," Sam interjects with a giggle. She's been silent for much of the discussion, trying to be the least intrusive chaperone that she can be.

"So I take it you were involved in fighting some war, probably in Africa, that America is involved in, but doesn't claim to be involved in," Shelby says.

Teal'c nods his head.

"Sudan," Shelby guesses.

"I believed that warriors of that renown could only exist in legend."

"The Sodan? Warriors of renown? They force children to rape and murder their family members!" Shelby hisses with horror.

Teal'c pauses, "We apparently speak of different warriors."

"I should hope so," Shelby says, crossing her arms before her. Just then, the waitress brings up two giant plates of food, and a reasonable-sized salad. Sam digs into her salad while Teal'c and Shelby start shoveling food into their mouths.

**A Week Later**

When Sam picks up Ty from Emma's house one night, she sees him pouting.

"Honey, what's wrong?" she asks as she buckles him into his car seat.

"Mommy, am I stupid?"

"Of course not. Who said that?"

"No-one, but when you are four years old you are supposed to go to preschool. Emma is going to preschool, and a lot of other kids have left day care, or are going to day care once in a while. But I've been four for a couple of months, and I'm not in day care yet."

"Honey, that's not because you're stupid, it's because you're so smart that you don't need preschool," Sam says quickly, closing the door and going back to her seat of the car.

"Mommy, I'm still not going to get to see Emma very much," Ty says mournfully.

"I'm sorry, kid," Sam says, looking into the mirror and seeing the face that she knows is going to be hard to deny.

"Can't I go to preschool even if I don't need it?" Ty asks.

Sam wasn't planning on sending her son to preschool. It was, after all, optional. And she figured it would be a little bit longer before she had to deal with strangers caring for her son without video cameras involved.

"Dad and I are going to talk about it," she promises.

-0-0-0-

"Jack, your son wants to go to preschool," Sam says carefully later that night.

"Ok, and how to you feel about it?" Jack asks carefully.

"I don't trust them, I don't trust anyone with him but family," Sam says.

"That's not true, we've left him off at Boyd's house."

"I know," she says softly.

"And next year he's going to have to go to school."

"We could homeschool him?" Sam asks hopefully.

"We're not going to make that decision based on your fear. If that's what is best for Ty, fine; otherwise, no," he says.

"He deserves to go to school," Sam says softly.

Jack pulls her into a tight hug. "I'll make sure they have background checks."

She smiles at him.

"Maybe we can get him to wear a wire," Jack teases.

Sam glares at him.

"I promise, it is going to be ok."

"Let's see if we can get him into the same preschool that Emma goes to. Those two act like they are attached at the hip."

"Do you think that that is where Ty gets his frilly dress obsession from?" Jack asks.

"Oh, yeah, one of them is the exact same," Sam says.

"What do you think the chances are that Ty will outgrow the cross-dressing phase before he enters preschool?" Jack asks hopefully.

"Not very good," she says with a smile.

***This was before September 11, and the resulting wars.**


	31. Part 3 Chapter 6

**Spoilers for "Gamekeeper" and "Need"**

**Two Weeks Later**

"Mom, did you and Daniel have a fight?" Cassie asks tentatively.

"No sweetie, what makes you ask that?" Janet asks.

"He hasn't been over to our house in weeks. If he isn't mad at you, he must be mad at me."

"No, I'm sure that's not it," Janet assures her.

"There is a daddy-daughter dance, and I know he's not really my daddy…" Cassie begins.

"Do you want to ask him, or should I?" Janet asks.

"You can," Cassie says bashfully.

**The Next Day**

"What the hell is going on?" Janet asks as she marches into Daniel's office.

He blinks at her.

"Listen, I don't know exactly what happened between the two of us, but I get that you don't want to be together anymore. Fine. It would have been nice if you actually told me that. But here is the deal, you told my daughter that you were her father. And that, my friend, is a forever kind of job. So even if you want out of my life you can't get out of hers."

His bushy eyebrows raise far above his glasses, "You think I want to break up with you?"

"What am I supposed to think? You're usually at my house most of the days that you're on-world. Then suddenly we don't see hide nor tail of you for two weeks, and you've got my daughter wondering what she did wrong. She did nothing wrong, except asking the wrong person to be her surrogate father."

"I'm not very good at this," Daniel says softly.

"You're not very good at this?" Janet repeats incredulously.

"I get distracted, by the work. It was a really important translation, and I've slept here all week, studying it."

The anger goes out of Janet, and she deflates. "And you couldn't have picked up the phone to tell me this?"

"I told you I'm not very good at this. I will try to be better. But you're right, Cassie deserves better, and so do you. Pretty much everyone that I've ever been with left me because I am such a workaholic. I won't blame you if you do too," he says, looking at his feet.

Janet walks toward him, and sets his face on fire by putting her hand on it. "You don't want me to go, do you?"

He shakes his head, which results in him rubbing it against her hand.

"Ok, then I'm just going to have to accept you just as you are," she says with a smile.

"You guys are more important to me than the work is, and I'm going to work on showing you this with my actions."

Janet nods, "And you're going to have to explain this to Cassie in a way that she understands."

"I'll try my best," he promises.

"I have a way you can start showing her how important you are to her right now. She has a daddy-daughter dance next week that she would love for you to go to."

"She really wants me?" Daniel asks with a wide grin.

Janet nods her head, "She loves you."

"It's mutual," he grins.

Janet turns to leave, but quickly runs over to his counter and grabs the coffee maker off of it.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Daniel protests.

"As your doctor, I either have to take your coffee maker or give you a lecture about the importance of sleep."

"Lecture," he says, grabbing for the coffee maker.

"Well, the eagerness with which you choose that option tells me the lecture isn't going to be very effective," she says, pulling the coffee maker away.

"I'll come over to your house tonight."

"You should probably get some sleep, you can come over tomorrow."

"I'm not going to let that little girl think that I don't like her for a single second. Not if I can prevent it," Daniel argues.

**The Next Week**

"Bye, Mommy!" Ty says, giving his mother a quick kiss before he runs into the preschool. "Emma!" he exclaims.

"Nice to see you again, Mrs. Carter," the teacher says with a quick wave. Clearly, Sam is supposed to move on, but how exactly is she supposed to leave her baby boy?

She knows these people, and had background checks done on them. There are all these other kids here, and they are all very verbal. If something went wrong this time, Ty would be able to tell her. But she just can't leave him. She stands locked in the doorway, knowing that what she's doing, or rather isn't doing, is crazy.

"Are you having a bit of trouble letting go?" the teacher asks.

Sam nods her head.

"That's perfectly normal. If you'd like to stay for a bit the first day, that is fine," the teacher says.

"Thank you," Sam replies, but she knows that what she is feeling is far from perfectly normal. She knows that she shouldn't stay, that it's only go to make it harder when she does eventually leave. But as soon as the teacher told her that she could stay, the relief that flowed through her body was unbelievable.

-0-0-0-

Ty comes and sits down next to his mother, and runs a toy car across his own leg. "What's wrong, baby?" Sam asks, putting her arm around him.

"You seemed sad," Ty says.

Sam's heart shatters into a million pieces. Her son really needs to stop suffering because of her fear.

"I'm not sad. Why would I be sad, just because my son is growing up? Growing up is a good thing. I'm going to get going; I'll see you in a couple of hours when preschool gets done, ok?"

"Ok, Mommy," he says with a grin.

She leans forward and kisses his forehead. She is glad that the abuse didn't scar her son as deeply as it scared her.

**A few Days Later**

"Janet, I'm not going to be coming over tonight like we planned. I'd like to talk to Cassie and explain to her why."

"Sure, no problem. Would you mind explaining it to me first?" Janet asks playfully.

"You know about the mission I was just on, right?" Daniel asks carefully.

Janet nods her head, "Yeah, at little. You were trapped in a video game that forced you to relive parts of your life."

"I was stuck watching my parents die again and again," he says mournfully.

"Oh, Daniel, I'm so sorry."

"Right, well you can see that I wouldn't be very good company tonight."

"Daniel," Janet says in awe, surprised that after all of this time that he understands her so little. "You don't come over to entertain us. We spend time together so that we can help each other. Daniel, you shouldn't be alone tonight."

"Janet, if it was just you, I'd agree. But I can't let Cassie see me like this."

"Like what, Daniel? Grieving for your parents? Haven't you seen her like that a few times? I think this is going to be a good thing for her. If you don't agree to come over, we're going to invade your apartment."

"Well, I guess I'm going to have to come over. Otherwise, we'd have to explain the presence of your bra."

"That's where I left it!" Janet exclaims.

"Where else would it have been?" Daniel asks with alarm.

"I thought it was in my locker at work."

"And you thought you left work without a bra?" Daniel asks in surprise.

Janet laughs, "Ok, I should have known where it was."

"You'd better," he grins to her on the phone.

-0-0-0-

As soon as Daniel walks through the door Cassie wraps her arms around him. "I'm sorry about your parents," she whispers.

"Thanks," he says, choking back tears.

She looks up at him, "You told me that it was ok to cry."

"I know, but there were a lot of people when I was a little boy that told me it wasn't ok to cry," Daniel says carefully, not entirely sure that this is something that he wants the girl to know about him.

Cassie turns to her mother a little uncertainly, "They were wrong though, mom, weren't they?"

Janet nods her head, locking her eyes on Daniel's above her daughter's head, "They were wrong, honey. But Daniel is so lucky that he is with us now. He's safe, and he can do whatever he needs to do. We're going to love him anyway."

Cassie nods her head, and Daniel's crying starts in earnest.

**Two Week Later**

"I have to go back," Daniel says with crazed eyes.

"You can't," Janet says, trying to school her face not to show how deeply Daniel has wounded her. He wants to go back to another women. And he's telling her this, and doesn't even care.

She knows that she shouldn't blame him. He's high, out of his mind, he doesn't know what he's saying. He doesn't know what he's saying because of the drugs that women gave him. And she is not going to let the man that he loves go back to her.

"You're killing me! Don't you understand? You're killing me!" he shouts.

"No, you're going to be fine. You're getting better, the worst is over," she assures him. She'd worked in a detox clinic once when she was still in medical school. She never thought she would be going through this on a more personal basis.

"You're just jealous," he bursts out.

"No, sweetie," she says with power which belies the gentle words. Then the words turn to match the power behind them, "I'm trying to protect you from a bitch who screwed with your brain chemistry!"

Daniel jumps up from the chair, the restraints that they used to tie him apparently being no challenge for him at all. He pushes past Janet, slamming her arm into wall on his way out of the room. Pain radiates through her arm, letting Janet know that something is wrong; the arm might even be broken. Janet drags herself over to the alarm to set it off, all the while in shock that Daniel, her Daniel, could do this to her.

**Two Days Later**

"I have to go back," he tells her. It shatters her heart into a million tiny pieces. He's not high now. He's sane and he's healthy. And he's asking her to let him go to another woman. What right does she have to refuse him? It's not as if she has any true ownership over him. At least, no ownership except for the fact that she is in love with him.

"What am I supposed to tell Cassie?" she says, grieving the fact that her heart isn't going to be the only one that breaks in this situation.

"Tell her I'll see her tomorrow, and that I'm better. I mean… I guess I don't know what you told her about when I was detoxing, but I'm guessing you had to tell her something."

"You're going to be back tomorrow?" Janet says in confusion.

He looks at her in surprise, tilting his head toward her, "Janet, you thought I was going to leave you for her?"

Janet bursts into tears. He gathers her up into her arms. "What was I supposed to think? You were engaged to her!" she exclaims.

"Oh, not really, Janet. What happened with that woman was no more voluntary than what happened with Hathor."

Janet recoils in horror. She knew that Daniel was engaged to the women, but until that very moment she had not actually considered that he might be involved in a sexual relationship with her.

"The two of you…" she stammers, not quite willing to ask the question that is on her mind.

"No," he says shaking his head, "To be honest, I think Shaya was more interested in a co-ruler than a husband. Thank goodness. But she did still use drugs to make me stay. I can't believe my team was being worked to death in the mine and I did nothing to stop it."

"Like you said, it wasn't really you," Janet says.

"And I really can't believe I broke your arm," he says tenderly, touching the brace that is over her wrist.

"It's not broken, it's just a sprain, this is coming off in a couple of days," she says softly.

There is a moment of silence, and her eyes met his blue orbs. His eyes are filled with more sadness than she's ever seen. "Growing up as a foster kid, I swore to myself I was never going to be the kind of man who hurt a women."

"Did anyone…" she prompts, a little alarmed by what his statement hints at.

He shakes his head, "No, no one ever hurt me. But I had quite a few foster siblings that were beat up by their parents, and quite a few more who saw a parent getting beat up by someone. They seemed more bothered by the second one, strangely. I guess we can at least be grateful that Cassie wasn't around to witness that."

"This was a long way from beating me up, and you aren't that sort of man. You weren't yourself when you did this to me."

"Yeah, well a lot of the people I'm talking about weren't themselves when it happened, either. A lot of them were drunk or high on drugs, but it certainly didn't make what they did ok."

"Of course not, but they choose to take those things. You didn't choose this," Janet says softly.

He takes the splint, and brings it to his mouth gracing it with a gentle kiss on the way.

-0-0-0-

Janet's stomach drops as she hears Cassie talking to her grandmother on the phone. "Janet is having so much trouble driving with her wrist."

Janet flinches, she hadn't thought of how she was going to explain this to the outside world. She'd been honest with her daughter. She probably wouldn't have if she'd seen Daniel's reaction to his actions before she'd done it. But she'd been frustrated and a bit scared when she'd come home the night after it had happened. So when Cassie asked about the wrist, Janet had explained that Daniel had done it to her by accident, because something alien had messed with his head. Now, she's not really sure what her daughter is going to let slip.

"Daniel sprained her wrist," the girl explains simply.

Janet flinches. A second later, her daughter extends the phone to her saying, "Grandma wants to talk to you."

"Hi, mom," Janet says, walking out of earshot of her daughter.

"Janet, what happened?" her mom asks breathlessly.

"It was an accident, a work-related accident. It's really no big deal. I just have to wear the splint for a couple of days, and I honestly am not having as much trouble driving as Cassie makes it sound like."

"But Daniel did it?"

"It was an accident at work, mom."

"Sweetie, he _hurt_ you. I know you feel sorry for him. I know that he had a pretty rough time growing up. But what if it's Cassie next time?"

"He would never hurt Cassie," Janet protests softly, her heart clenching in the fear.

"He hurt you, Janet, and you can't let him get away with it. I know it's hard, but it's not going to get easier. You have to get out while you still can."

"Mom, Daniel feels terrible about what happened."

"Of course he does, they always feel bad after it's said and done."

"Mom, it really wasn't his fault, and I am sure it's not going to happen again."

"I'm just trying to protect you, sweetie."

"I know, I'd get the same way if I ever thought that someone laid a hand on Cassie."

"And you know that I really do like Daniel, right?"

"Well, that's good, because I plan on bringing him home for Christmas this year."

"Two Christmases in a row? That has to be some kind of a record for you. I'm pretty sure that your husband didn't even make two Christmases."


	32. Part 3 Chapter 7

**Two Months Later**

"So you missed last week," Shelby says lightheartedly before church begins. She's not really surprised. Teal'c is sometimes on a mission on church days. She doesn't know what that means, and she doesn't ask. Now that he's without a chaperone, she has figured out she can get a lot more information by pretending that she already knows it.

"I was with my son," Teal'c responds.

"Your son?" Shelby asks in utter shock.

"Indeed," Teal'c replies.

"You never mentioned that you had a kid before!" she practically squeaks.

"You never before inquired."

"It's not usually the sort of thing that you have to inquire about. I mean, most parents just talk about their kids. Jack mentioned his kids the very first day that I met him."

"O'Neill and his children share a residence."

"Oh, I got you. So did he get taken away, or are you and his mother just separated?"

"I would not allow my son to be taken from me by force."

"Well, when social services come, you ain't got nothin' to say about it. I should know, I got taken from my mom a coupla times when I was growing up. I never lasted long though. She was good with social workers."

"There is an organization in your country which steals children? Why does your government not work to stop them?"

"Dude, they _are_ the government," Shelby says, giving him a weird look.

Teal'c files this information away in his brain for later reference. He's pledged allegiance to this government, and might have to take his vow back now that he knows they steal children from their parents.

"You didn't answer his question, did you and your son's mom split up?"

"I have been away from her for many months."

"But are you, like, divorced?" Shelby asks.

Teal'c pauses, "I left that country, and have pledged allegiance to yours."

"I get that you're a political refugee or whatever, but dude, they didn't even let you take your wife and kid with? That's cold man, stone cold."

"They were unaware of my family the point at which I pled my allegiance to them."

"You didn't even tell them man,?" Shelby's eyes well up against her will, "You just left him there? Did you even say goodbye?"

Teal'c shakes his head no.

"My dad didn't say goodbye either, asshole."

Teal'c is silent for a minute trying to figure a way to make this girl of Earth understand his decision. Trying, for the first time, to really understand the decision himself. "I was defying my god. No one has ever done that before. I was sure that this action was going to result in my demise. I had seen gods kill for far less than that. I considered retrieving my family from my place of residence, and fleeing with them, though. Had they been caught, they too would have been executed. I believed that my leaving without them would have kept them safe. I was incorrect. My actions nearly cost my son his life."

She is silent for long second. "This is the first time you saw him since you left?"

"Indeed."

"How long have you been gone?"

"One and a half of your years."

"Our years?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Time is calculated differently where I am from," he responds.

"Ah, so did you bring your wife and son home?"

He tilts his head and looks at her for a while, "They remained at home."

And that is the first time Shelby realizes that Teal'c doesn't actually view his newly adopted country as his home. "Why didn't you bring them here with you?"

"I wish for my son to be free. This is not yet possible. I fight every day that he might one day have his freedom. He is a slave there, and here he would not be a slave, but he would be far from free. He would live his life in the confines of a concrete building without any windows. He could not play outside with his friends. He could not go to school. He could not learn to fight as a warrior."

"But you miss him?"

"Indeed."

"Teal'c you are perhaps the least selfish man I've ever met."

And he looks at her with surprise, and for the first time she recognizes the faint thing that flashes across his face as an emotion. She was sure the man didn't even feel them, or much less express them before just now.

**Two Weeks Later**

Sam is in the bathroom when Hannah starts crying. She rushes to finish up, and runs into the baby's room. She stops short when she enters the door. Her son is sitting in the rocking chair, singing a lullaby to his baby sister.

She feels like she should scold him. After all, Ty knows that he's not supposed to pick up his little sister without someone right there to help him. But the picture is so beautiful that she hasn't the heart. Besides, the baby is just fine.

Just then Ty leans over and bestows a kiss on his little sister's brow, and the baby stops crying in an instant.

"Ty, where you aware that you are a really good big brother?" she asks.

"Of course," he responds without looking up.

**One Month Later**

Daniel fidgets with his glasses as he rings the doorbell to the Fraiser house. He usually doesn't ring the doorbell anymore, but on this occasion, he feels like he should ask permission to enter. After all, he's asking permission for a lot of other things.

"Hi, Daniel," Cassie says cheerfully, opening the door.

"Hey, Cass, do you want to go on a short walk with me?"

"Not really, it's kind of cold out," she responds easily.

Daniel stands in the doorway, stunned and pale, not quite knowing what to do next. His entire plan hinged on the little girl saying yes.

She stares at him, standing in the doorway as if he's just experienced some sort of trauma, and carefully amends her previous statement, "Sure, just let me grab the super-warm coat. And I hope this is actually going to be a short walk."

She can tell that Daniel has something important to say, and her love for him is the only reason that she is agreeing to this. Everything that is within her wants to say 'no way'.

They walk together three blocks in silence before Cassie finally says, "So was this walk really about your desperate need to get hypothermia, or…"

There is another pause of almost a minute, and Cassie has almost given up on the man ever spilling the beans when she says, "You know Jack got Ty an engagement ring shortly after he asked Sam to marry him. I thought it was kind of a cute idea."

Cassie's heart leaps within her, and she doesn't even mind that he takes another long pause before continuing.

"I think a ring might be a little… odd. But I liked the concept, you know. Because if you're going to marry someone with a kid, the commitment you're making to the kid is as big as the one you're making to the mother… maybe even bigger."

She looks up at him with tears almost brimming in her eyes.

He stops, and kneels down on one knee in the snow, snapping open a box containing a beautiful silver locket and says, "Cassandra Fraiser, do I have your permission to propose to your mother?"

"Of course you do!" she exclaims, flinging herself into his arms.

He grins at her, "So, ah, do you like the necklace? 'Cause if you don't, I could get you something else. I mean, if you wanted a ring or a bracelet or, heck, a toy, I could do that instead."

"I love it."

"Or I could get a different style. I thought about getting you gold, but it just didn't seem like it was your style. But if you'd rather have a gold one, I'll get it for you…"

"On Hanka, gold was worn only by the priests and priestess of the goddess," she says softly.

"So I made the right call with silver then," he says softly, rustling her hair.

"You definitely did. Now, come on, you've got a question to ask my mother," she stays, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him back toward her house.

"Wow, Cassie, you're not going to say anything when we get back to the house, are you? I mean, I want to ask your mother in my own way."

Cassie nods her head, and then suddenly grows grim.

"What is it?" he asks, noticing the change.

"What if she says no?" Cassie asks.

Daniel's heart sinks to his stomach so fast that for a second or so he can't even find the words to speak. Then he chokes out in panic, "Do you think she is going to say no?"

"No, of course not, she loves you," she says, comforting the panicked man before her. She kicks a rock with her foot, considering what to say next, before she continues, "It's just… I thought you already were my dad. And here you are saying that you're going to make a promise to be my dad _if_ mom marries you."

"Oh, my dearest Cassie-girl," he says with a contented sigh, "You are mine forever. But if I marry your Mom, it's going to be different. I won't just be there for the father-daughter dances, and come over a couple times a week, and help you with your history homework. I'm going to be there every single day – when I'm on Earth, of course. I'm going to make you breakfast, and check your math homework, and tuck you in every single night, and I'm going to be there if you have a nightmare, and for parent teacher night, and… it's going to be different, sprout. Just different."

"I think I'm going to like different."

"Me too, love. Me too."

-0-0-0-

"You ready?" Janet asks, when Daniel and Cassie return from their short walk.

Daniel nods his head, but Cassie shakes her head, "We're ready, Mom, but you're not."

Daniel shoots Cassie a glare, but Janet just looks confused. "What's wrong honey?" she asks.

"I just think maybe you should dress up a little more," Cassie says.

"Where are we going?" Janet asks Daniel, thinking that he might have told her daughter something that he didn't let her in on. She's in her second-nicest dress. Granted, she could have put a touch more effort into the make-up, but seriously, Daniel sees her almost every day. He's seen her without clothes or make-up more than once. They had, of late, got in the habit of sneaking a communal shower after Cassie went to bed and before Daniel slipped out the door.

"You look amazing," Daniel says, kissing her and leaving an arm wrapped around the small of her back.

"You should at least put on earrings," Cassie whines.

"I'll be right back," Janet says, slipping from his grasp and running up the stairs in heals. They've finally reached the point where Daniel doesn't mention it anymore. He's used to it, and no longer fears that it's going to result in her falling.

"We're going to be late!" Daniel calls after her.

"Well maybe you and Cassie shouldn't have taken such a long walk," Janet calls back.

"I never should have asked you for her hand," Daniel grumbles to Cassie.

"You're right, I believe the Earth tradition is to ask her father," Cassie teases back.

Daniel stops cold in his tracks, "Do you think I should do that? I mean, is the family going to be mad at me if I don't ask them before I ask her?"

Cassie shakes her head, "They love you Daniel, it's going to be ok."

Janet comes running down the stairs, putting earrings in place as she goes. She bends down, and hands Cassie a necklace which matches the bracelet she must have thrown on upstairs.

"Better?" she asks her daughter, as she tilts her head to fasten on the other earring.

"You look perfect, mom," her daughter assures her.

-0-0-0-

"Janet, I'm really glad we started dating," Daniel tells her, taking his first sip of wine at the restaurant.

"Me too," she says with a smile.

"You are truly the most amazing person I've ever met. You're so strong, and compassionate, and smart," he continues, reaching across the table to take her hand lightly in his.

"Ok," she says slowly, "What exactly is going on here?"

"I'm telling you how great you are," he says with a laugh, "Apparently I don't do that enough."

"I just feel like I'm missing something, is it our anniversary or something?"

"Of course, it's not our anniversary, you'd have to be married to have an anniversary," he says with an edge in his voice. He's starting to get a bit annoyed at the way she keeps interrupting his plan. He'd put a lot of thought into his plan.

"I meant the anniversary of our first date or first kiss or something…oh," her eyes brighten suddenly as she realizes what is really going on.

"What?" he asks.

"Nothing," she says grinning, "I'm shutting up now. You talk. You were doing such a good job of it," she lets out a little giggle.

He shoots her a suspicious look, but continues on with h is planned speech, "I am so lucky to have you and Cassie in my life. My only regret is that I don't have the two of you in my life a whole lot more. I was wondering, would you marry me."

"Yes," she says, jumping up from the table. She runs around to his side, and sits down in his lap to give him a long and slightly scandalous kiss.

When she finally pulls away she looks up, she sees that she has the attention of most of the people in the room. She blushes but then offers, "What can a girl do, he just offered to marry me." And then the room breaks out in applause. Janet stands up and walks back to her seat across the table from Daniel.

Daniel's cheeks go red from the attention as well as the kiss. "You said yes so quick that you didn't bother to take a look at the ring," he warns.

"If you think you have to bribe me to marry you, you're nuts," she says.

He hand the velvet box over to her, and she gasps as she opens it. "Daniel," she scolds softly.

"Don't you like it?"

"It's too big," she tells him, closing the box and pushing it back.

"I want you to have it," he insists pushing the box back over to her.

"I've seen your car, darling, you can't afford this."

"The car again! If it really bothers you that much I'll sell it, maybe buy a minivan."

"Minivan? Are we going to need it?" Janet asks with an even bigger grin.

"Well, I thought maybe, if you wanted to," he says insecurely, "We could fill it up with some kids."

"I'd like that," she says.

"Of course, you know that medically that might take some time to do."

"I think I can be patient," she says, "Maybe we can even get a head start tonight."

"We're not married yet," he reminds her.

"True," she says coyly, "But are you figuring on a long engagement? Because if not…"

He smiles, "No long engagement, but let's not get pregnant until we're officially married."

She smiles at him again, and lets out a little giggle.

"But seriously Daniel, you don't need to get me this big honking rock. You don't need to impress me. You already impress me with how brilliant, and handsome, kind, and courageous you are."

"Thank you for your concern, madam, but I can actually afford that ring. You've seen my apartment, right?"

She nods her head, but that isn't quite accurate. She's been in his apartment plenty of times, but she was never really noticing the décor. It was always for a lunchtime rendezvous, and her view had mostly either been of a ceiling or some sheets.

"I've got lots of artifacts there. Just because I choose to use my money to buy ancient board games instead of new cars doesn't mean I'm destitute."

She smiles, and slips the ring out of the box and onto her finger. "Thank you, then," she says softly, admiring the way it looks on her hand in a way that erases any doubt in his mind that the big rock was the way to go.

"I'm assuming you already told Cassie, by her desperate need to dress me up?"

"I did, and I gave her a locket too," he confesses.

"I am so looking forward to having you around every day," she grins.

"Oh, me too," he says with something akin to relief on his face, "And I'm also looking forward to getting to hold you all night long."

"The honeymoon," she says with a grin.

"Promising you, forever," he returns.

Her eyes well up, and she pulls a cloth napkin from the table to dab at her eyes to keep the make-up, already worn from a long day at work, from being completely ruined. Cassie would never forgive her if she came back from her engagement with trails of mascara running down her cheeks.

"Forever," she says with a nod. "I like the sound of that."


	33. Part 3 Chapter 8

**A Week Later**

"Can we go through the names of my cousins one more time?" Cassie asks her mother nervously.

"Honey, there isn't going to be a test," Janet teases her daughter.

"Have you explained airport security to her?" Daniel asks Janet, thinking that is probably going to be a much bigger deal when the girl actually encounters it.

"I don't know how you're supposed to act around cousins. I've never had cousins or aunts or uncles before," Cassie says.

"Sweetie, you've sent them e-mails, you've talked to them on the phone before," Janet says.

"It's not the same," Cassie says.

Daniel bends down to look into the eyes of her, "Let me tell you a secret, I'm not really used to a family either."

"But they aren't your family," Cassie says.

Janet is about to scold her for her rudeness, but Daniel isn't offended, and he says, "Last year, they decided that I was family."

"Well, if they adopted you ,they're surely going to adopt me," Cassie says with newfound confidence.

"You were worried that your own family wasn't going to love you?" Janet asks. "You're amazing, and they are going to love you with all of their hearts. You have absolutely no reason to be nervous."

"But I'm still nervous," Cassie informs her.

"They really are great people, Cass," Daniel assures her.

"Oh, I'm not nervous about them anymore. I'm just nervous about flying in a plane," Cassie says with a laugh, "I think I'd feel better if I knew exactly _how _they flew."

Daniel looks at Janet who looks as stunned as he does. "I think a call to Auntie Sam is in order."

-0-0-0-

"No! I don't want Emma to leave! Come on, Emma, we'll hide where they can never find us!" Ty exclaims as the doorbell rings. He grabs the girl's hand, and they run up the stairs together.

Jack giggles as he opens the door. He has no doubt in his ability to find the children when he needs to.

"Hey, Jack, how is that baby of yours?" Henry asks.

"Fine. How is Stargate Command since I left it yesterday?"

"Dandy. Where are the kids?" he asks, looking around.

"They've decided to hide from us; they don't want to be separated," Jack explains.

"Shouldn't we go look for them?" he asks.

"It might be funnier if we wait down here until they're tired of hiding, and then have them come down to look for us."

Henry laughs, "Jack O'Neill, you are something else."

"You want a beer?" Jack asks walking into the kitchen.

Henry nods his head, and Jack grabs two of them out of the fridge, and hands one to his friend.

"What are you plans for Christmas?" Jack asks.

Henry shrugs.

"Hammond doesn't have you on a mission, does he?" Jack asks.

"No, there are no missions scheduled over Christmas."

"So are you leaving, going to visit family or anything?" Jack asks.

"There really isn't any family to visit."

"I'm sorry," Jack says. "Hey, why don't you come to Christmas at our house?"

"I couldn't impose like that."

"It's not going to be anything big. Just a normal dinner at our house, plus my mom. Seriously, you're welcome to come. We could use a little more family, as well."

"If you really just wanted more people, you would have a lot of people to invite. Your team, for instance."

"Daniel is spending Christmas with Janet's family. Feretti is going to see his folks. Even Teal'c is having dinner with a girl he met at church," he ignores the eye raise the last comment gives him, "And even if all of this wasn't true, I'd want to spend Christmas with you and your daughter."

"Says the man who's gone through the Stargate more than any other person of Earth," Henry says.

"So that's a yes on the Christmas?" Jack asks.

"Emma could use a little more family," he agrees.

"Daddy, come find us!" Emma calls.

**The Next Day**

"Cassie, why don't you sit by the window, it has the best view," Daniel asks Cassie, as he and Janet board the plane with the girl between them.

"Doesn't it also have the scariest view?" she asks nervously.

"It's not nearly as scary as the way that we got from Toronto to Colorado," Daniel says cryptically, earning a laugh from the little girl, "But you can sit wherever you want."

"I think that I want to sit by the window," she says, the laugh having given her new-found confidence.

A women smiles at them, and lightly touches the girl's arm as they pass, "Honey, you look just like your dad."

Cassie blinks at the older women for a long second, trying to figure out exactly how to respond to the comment. She eventually settles on, "Thanks, 'cause he's super-handsome."

Daniel's cheeks go red at the proclamation, and Janet snickers behind him.*

-0-0-0-

"Oh, I'm so glad to see you!" Cassie's new grandmother exclaims, giving her the kind of hug which literally takes away the breath, before passing her over to her great-grandmother. The older women has a lot less strength, but she still has enough strength to make it very difficult to breath for a couple of seconds.

"The kids are all making snowmen in the backyard. You probably don't have snow pants, with how infrequently it snows down in Colorado, but never fear, the family brought everyone's old snow clothes, and there is probably something you can fit into," the older mother says, letting go of the child, only to guide her by her shoulders out of the room.

"I'd rather stay here with you," Cassie says nervously.

"Nonsense!" the older women exclaims. "You want to go out and play with the children."

"Janet," Cassie says with terror in her eyes.

But it's not her mother that comes to her rescue. Daniel bends down on one leg, "Cass, we're right here, I promise. You can go out and play with your cousins, and if anything happens, you can come right in. But nothing bad is going to happen. They are going to love you, and you are all going to play together, and have fun. Ok?"

She nods her head. He can tell that she is going to obey him, but that she is still pretty uncertain about the whole thing.

"You want me to come out with you for a little bit?"

Her whole face lights up, and he takes her hand as they move to the back of the house to find snow-suits.

-0-0-0-

Hannah is laying on her stomach on a blanket in the living room. Tyler is laying in front of her face, making funny faces at her, and she's moving her arms around. It looks like she's trying to swat her big brother in the face.

The doorbell rings, and Tyler runs to it and begins jumping up, trying to peer through the peephole that is far above his head.

"Let me get it," his grandfather says, coming up behind.

"It's Emma, I just know it!" Tyler says.

Ty is, of course, correct his prediction. As soon as the door opens to allow Emma and her father into the house, Emma exclaims, "I brought my dress-up clothes. Let's go play princess!" Emma says, waving a suitcase in her hands.

"Yes!" Ty says, pumping the air before following behind her.

"I'm terribly sorry about the fact that your grandson is probably going to spend Christmas in a dress. I tried to talk her out of this idea, but my efforts were rewarded by not only tears, but a very condemning and logical talk from my little girl about what a bigot I was not to letting a little boy dress however he wanted to dress."

"She didn't use the word bigot, did she?"

"Nope, but the words she used did have quite a bite to them, though. I believe the term 'poopy head' was brandied about," Henry admits.

"We're not much bothered by Ty's choice of clothing anymore," Jacob admits with a smile.

"That's good; I'm not quite as accepting about it as I'd like to be," Henry admits.

Jacob smiles, "Parenting, or grandparenting, for that matter, is a strange thing, isn't it? You put all of this effort into trying to make your kids into the person you want them to be. You try to teach them right from wrong. You read to them and talk to them so they'll do better in school. You make them do chores so they'll be independent one day. You try to guide them into having the right friends. You enroll them in all sorts of after school activities, and fret about what kind of music and movies and books they're exposed to."

Henry nods.

"And sometimes you get so caught up in that that you forget, you have almost no say in the sort of person they become someday."

Henry looks at the man in surprise. Just then, Sam comes running through the room, "I think I'm burning the turkey! Dad, why didn't you remind me to set a timer on the turkey?!"

"Probably because you never asked me to, dear," he says calmly.

When she's out of sight, he looks back at Boyd and says, "And it's only when they're grown up that you realize that it's good you don't have complete control over the person that they become. Because let me tell you, in my wildest dreams I could not have imagined a person as amazing as my daughter. Ty isn't the grandson that I would have asked for, but I am so unbelievably glad that he is the grandson that I got."

-0-0-0-

Janet glances out the window at the snowball fight that is going on in the backyard. The combatants range from four to sixteen, with the exception of Daniel, the only adult.

He throws a snowball, hitting Cassie directly in the chest. The snow covers her in a chilly powder, and she scoops a handful of snow off the ground to retaliate. He grabs one of her toddler-aged cousins, and holds the child up as a human shield.

The children seem to be forming some sort of Geneva convention about how ethical this behavior is when he puts a snow ball in the hand of the youngster, and charges a few of the older boys who are hiding behind a fort.

The boys are so surprised by the unexpected onslaught that the toddler manages to drop the snowball in her hand on one of their heads. It falls off the head without even having cracked, and all the children begin laughing.

"He's great with kids," Janet's grandmother says, coming up behind her unannounced.

Janet turns toward the older women, and accepts the cup of hot chocolate that she is offered, "That he is," she admits.

"And now you both admit that you're dating," the women continues.

"We weren't dating last Christmas, it wasn't that we weren't willing to admit it, Gran."

"He's a good one, Janet. I never liked that first husband of yours."

"I know, Gran, you told him so the first time that you met him."

"That's the sort of thing that happens when you don't get married in a church. You and Daniel are going to get married properly, aren't you?"

"Gran, Daniel and I aren't engaged."

"Ah, well, last Christmas, you claimed that you weren't dating, even though you clearly were, and now you're claiming that you aren't engaged, even though you clearly are."

"I think I would notice if someone asked me to marry them," Janet protests quietly.

"Sure, if they were brash enough to use words. What if they only used their eyes, would you see then?" her grandmother asks.

Just then Daniel catches sight of her in the window. His eyes light up, and a huge grin covers his face. He waves to her, and is so distracted that a snow ball hits him square in the face. Some of the snow gets into his mouth, because of his wide grin, and he turns to chase down the culprit.

"Your eyes are a bit harder to read, Janet. What are you going to say when his mouth catches up with those lovely blue eye so of his?" the women asks.

Janet takes a sip of the steamy liquid as she allows herself to imagine, for the first time, what it would be like if she and Daniel really worked out. If they stayed together long enough to have other children, and grandbabies as well.

She turns to her grandmother, "Don't my eyes give an answer?"

"They do now, darlin'," the older women says giving her a kiss on the cheek before walking away.

***This is based on the fact that people always used to tell my mom she looked just like my grandma, who was her mother-in-law. She did look a lot more like that Grandma than her own mother! And that was her comeback, "Thanks, 'cause she's beautiful." If you correct people****,**** they just feel super awkward, like it's an insult to say you look like someone you're not related ****to****.**


	34. Part 3 Chapter 9

**Spoilers for "Bane"**

Daniel gives Janet a delicate kiss at the door, and takes a step to leave.

"And just where do you think you're going, mister?" Janet asks, lightly grabbing onto his tie.

Daniel glances at his watch, confused. "It's after Cassie's bedtime; she'll already be asleep."

Janet actually laughs in his face.

"What?" he asks, catching a bit of the laugh from her.

"You don't honestly believe that that little girl is going to be asleep, do you?" she asks incredulously.

"Why wouldn't she be?" he asks innocently.

"You do get that from her perspective, her parents have just agreed to get married, right?"

"You're saying she's going to be too excited," he says.

"Yeah, and besides, I want to call my parents and deliver the news, and trust me, they're going to want to talk to you as soon as they hear."

"But it's after news time, aren't you going to wake them up?"

"Yep, but they'd be pretty annoyed if I didn't."

He blinks, "I guess I need a little tutoring in families," he says sadly.

She makes a face so full of empathy that it shows almost more emotion than his own, and then softly says, "You know, they're your family now, too. You're not an orphan anymore."

Cassie slides her lock into the keyhole, but before she puts her hand on the door to turn it pops open.

"Finally, you're done kissing!" Cassie exclaims, bouncing from foot to foot.

"We were talking," Daniel protests.

"Yeah, right, I watch TV, Daniel, and the guy always kisses the girl in front of her house. But usually not as long as you guys. Don't you run out of air at some point? I mean, I heard you squeak the step minutes ago."

"There was some kissing, but mostly it was talking," Janet says, "And I think I need to keep a better eye on exactly _what_ you are watching on TV."

"I'd say, I thought she was still into Disney. Disney doesn't have porch-kissing does it?" Daniel says with worry in his voice.

"It's kissing guys, now quite trying to distract me, and tell me the news!" she says, bouncing in place.

"Who said we have any news?" Janet teases.

But then Cassie looks at Daniel with such a look of devastation that she immediately regrets it. "Oh, honey, Daniel and are getting married."

Cassie lets out a high pitched squeal, and Daniel quickly shuts the door behind himself in the hopes that that way the noise will only wake the neighbors in a ten-block radius, as opposed to the entire world. She flings herself upon both of them in a hug that seems to last forever.

"We're a real family now," she says softly.

"We've always been real," Janet corrects softly.

"But we're realer now," Cassie says with a contented sigh.

Daniel hugs her for a bit longer before he says, "It is long past your bedtime, darling."

"When are you guys getting married?" Cassie asks.

"Soon," Daniel says with confidence.

"On Hanka, the morning after your engagement, you moved all you stuff in to your husband's house, and then you were married. You're going to move in here, right, Daniel?"

"Yeah?" he says, looking at Janet. At her nod he says with more confidence, "Yeah, but I'm not going to be moving in tomorrow. It's going to be a couple of months."

"But then you're going to be here every day?" Cassie asks.

"When I'm on Earth, yeah," Daniel says.

She leaps up and gives him a kiss on his cheek before skipping up the stairs. As soon as she is out of sight, Janet dashes for the phone. She dials the number with rapid speed.

"No, mom, everything is fine. He proposed," and then Janet proceeds to make a sound very much like the sound that Cassie made not long ago. Daniel can't help but laugh.

"Of course he's still here, you want to talk to him?" she says, running across the room to grab Daniel.

"Ah… hello," he says nervously into the phone.

There is blubbering on the other end of the phone. What did he do wrong? Doesn't she want him to marry her daughter?

"Welcome to the family, son," she finally gets out.

Now he feels tears coming to his own eyes, "Thank you," he whispers, because he doesn't have any voice left for a louder speech.

"Janet deserves happiness, and so do you. Son, you'd better take care of her and Cassie."

"I intend to, ma'am," he says.

"You mean, Mom, right?" she says.

And then his tears spill over in earnest.

**A Week Later**

All Teal'c can think about is finding a place to lay down. He's sick. He remembers sick from decades and decades ago, before his prim'ta.

He hadn't liked it.

He knows that he shouldn't have run away from the SGC. He shouldn't have pulled out his symbiote. He is terrified of what the bug is doing to him.

He walks down a street, and catches sight of Shelby. He calls her name, and the girl looks at him as if she was just caught doing something horrible.

Then she sees his face for the first time, and realizes that something is wrong.

"Are you sick?"

He looks at her, and to the alley behind her. There are some ancient stained cushions lined up together. There is a broken crate set up like a nightstand. On the nightstand, there are some college textbooks and broken pencils.

"Are you living rough, Shelby?" he asks.

"Living rough?" Shelby asks confused.

"I am endeavoring to incorporate Earth slang into my language," he explains.

"Well, I don't know exactly what part of Earth this language is from, but I have no idea what you are talking about."

"I gleaned this slang from a show about a doctor who possess no name," Teal'c offers.

"Ah, you got it from _Doctor Who_ then. That's British slang. Can you tell me what it means?"

"I am asking you whether your place of residence has walls and a ceiling," he says, looking meaningfully at the cushions behind him.

Shelby's face falls. "It's just temporary."

"Were you telling me untruths when you described the dormitories in which students at your college stayed?"

"No, they exist."

"But these were not a place in which you resided."

"I did live there," she says, kicking an imaginary rock on the floor.

"But now your place of residence is a cushion on the street," he says.

"Don't make a big deal about this, ok?"

"I wish to stay with you for a time," he says, looking at her eyes.

"Don't you stay in your little prison?"

"I have escaped," Teal'c replies.

"That's great, but I think you picked the wrong time to do it, you look horrible," Shelby says.

He raises an eyebrow.

"I mean that you looks sick. You should go to a doctor or something."

"The doctors view me as a medical experiment," he says softly.

"I know that sometimes it might feel like that, but they are really trying to help you."

"I do not believe that that is the true in my case," he says firmly.

"Ok, well, pull up a couple of soggy cushions, and have a share of my dumpster trash. I have class in a few hours."

"You are still attending the university?"

"Yeah, and working two jobs, if you can believe it."

"Does not your employment pay you enough to secure a residence for yourself?" he asks lowering himself down on the cushion.

She sighs, "Yeah, I mean, at least it should. But it was the third job that got me a place to sleep. I worked as an RA. That just means I looked after all the other girls in my dorm. But it was job number three. The first two were paying for my college and books, and maybe if, it was a good day, my food, too. But it turns out that working three jobs and going to school full time is a lot of work, so I fell asleep on my job. A bunch of girls snuck in alcohol, and I go sacked from it."

"I am not familiar with a form of Earth punishment that involves putting people into a sack."

She blinks at him for a second trying to figure out if he's being serious or not. She sides with serious, and says, "No see, it's not a literal sack. It's means you got fired. The RA job meant I could live for free in the dorm. When I lost it, I got kicked out, not that I could have afforded the job, anyway."

He nods his head, feeling nothing to add.

"Why do you always say 'Earth' something as if you're not even from Earth?"

"I have been instructed to replace the word 'Earth' with the word 'American'."

Her eyebrows wrinkle together, but she doesn't say anything. She can feel that direct questioning is going to him clam up.

-0-0-0-

"I require substance," Teal'c rasps out.

"I know, I bought us a coupla sandwiches at the mini-mart."

"I did not think that you had the resources required to make such purchases," he says.

"Well, I don't, really. But you look like you really need something right now. Besides, I figure you can pay me back when you have a chance."

"I am not certain that I am going to survive this," he replies.

She blinks at him in surprise, "You're serious? Of course you are going to survive!"

He doesn't make a face, which is of course no surprise, but it's the particular way in which he doesn't make a face which worries her.

"You're serous? You think you're going to die. You've got to go to the hospital, man."

"I do not think they can do anything but prolong my suffering. After my death, assure them that I wish you to have all of the Earth currency I have acquired."

"Dude, we have to get you to a hospital so you don't die," she says, a bit more frantically than she intended to.

"You must tell no-one," he says, grabbing onto her arm. He grabs a little too tight. Just a little, not the sort of thing which is going to leave a bruise or a scar. But it's enough like the treatment that she's used to getting from men to give her pause. Does she really want to get involved with someone like this? He's huge, and strong, and fights people for a living.

And if he wanted to hurt her, like her father, her brother, her step-father, she would never be able to fight back against Teal'c.

"Ok, man, you're secret is safe with me. Calm down."

Teal'c relaxes against the cushion.

-0-0-0-

She promised she wasn't going to tell anyone. But he's not conscious, and she's afraid he was telling the truth about being close to death. She has the number of the base. Teal'c had given it to her months ago at church, with the words, "It is a tradition in your culture, I believe, to cement relationships with the exchanging of numbers which can be dialed into a telephone to reach the other person." She'd never taken him up on the offer, because she wasn't exactly sure he'd known what he was offering. She was never quite sure if he thought of the two of them as friends or as something more.

Of course, none of that mattered now. Now she just had to make the call, and save his life.

"Ah, yeah, a while ago this guy Teal'c gave me this number," she says into the phone, while fidgeting.

"I'm sorry, ma'am Teal'c is not available now."

"I know.I'm with him, and he's really sick," she says.

"Can you tell us where you are?" a somewhat frantic voice asks.

"Yeah."

**Four Days Later**

Jack walks up to the same alley that he'd pulled his friend out of a couple of days before. "Shelby?" he says softly.

She looks at his face, and it's very grave.

"If you came here to give me his estate, you'd better just get the fuck out."

"Teal'c isn't dead, Shelby," he says.

"Is he going to be ok?" she asks.

Jack nods, with a smile crossing his face for the first time, "It really looks like it."

"You don't have to lie to me. I saw what he looked like, dude. He was sick."

"He was Shelby, and if you hadn't called me even after he asked you not to, he probably wouldn't have made it. As it is, though, he's going to be just fine."

Shelby tries not to cry. Strong people don't cry, especially not when good thing happen. But a few tears get squeezed out anyway.

"I did bring you money, though," he says, examining her face, "Teal'c told me you've been living on the street."

"It's just temporary," she whispers.

"Oh, Shelby," Jack says with a voice so full of emotion she can't help but look up into his face.

"I don't want your pity. I'm fine. In another year, I'm going to have my degree, and I'll get a job. And I will never again have to live on the street, or go hungry all summer until I go back to school and the free lunch. I'll never have to watch my siblings go hungry either, 'cause I'm going to let them live with me the second that my place gets to be better than their place is."

"None of those things should have happened to you in the first place. Teal'c and I, we want to make sure that none of those things ever happen to you again," he says, pushing an envelope toward her hand.

She shakes her head, and puts out her hand to push the envelope away from her. "No thank you, man," she says.

"Shelby, you would do the same for us if the situation was reversed. It's just a little bit of money to get you going."

"I don't take handouts," she says fiercely.

Jack sighs, "Teal'c said that you'd say that. Something about you being a 'warrior of great renown'. So we came with a backup plan – a job offer. Now before you say no to this, I want you to be aware that this is something we talked about offering you a long time before we even knew what was going on in your personal life. And the offer itself would be amazing even if the money isn't involved."

She looks at him skeptically, but doesn't interrupt, so he continues, "There is an infirmary at the place I work. And there is a doctor there, a really amazing doctor."

"Janet," Shelby offers.

"That's right, "Jack says, looking somewhat surprised.

"Teal'c's mentioned her before," Shelby explains.

"Ok, so she wants an assistant. Someone with a medical background."

"I have school for another three semesters. I have class during the day, and there is no way in hell that I'm going to drop out of school. I don't have a future if I drop out of school."

"I totally agree with you, and we would never ask you to do that. It would be kind of funky hours, just when she works nights. So sometimes it would be a 12 hour shift over the night for a couple of days, and some days you wouldn't work at all. It's going to mess with your sleeping patterns."

"I've had worse jobs."

"Right, well, there is a really big catch to this, and then there are some really big benefits to this. The catch is that you're going to have to enlist in order to make it work. The benefits are, it will pay for the rest of your schooling. As far as you want to go in the medical field."

"So I just get my school paid for? No money."

"No, you'll get money too; $25 an hour."

"But I'm only working like two hours a week or something?"

"No, it will be closer to thirty, I think. I'm not really up on the details."

"That is too sweet of a deal, you guys just made that up so you can give me a hand-out without me thinking that it is a hand out. Either that, or it's got to have some kind of a catch."

"I'm not trying to trick you here, Shelby, this is a good deal. But there are some serious catches; you have to enroll in the military. Do some basic training, promise them years of your life. And you have to agree to work at the Cheyenne Mountain infirmary for at least three years. The reason they have this deal is that it's been a little hard to keep nurses there."

"Why?" she asks suspiciously.

"It's a bit more of a dangerous job than most other stateside ones. And that's the other thing; I can't tell you exactly what we do at Cheyanne Mountain before you take the position and sign up for three years. I can only tell you that you would never guess in a million years, and that it is awesome beyond all measure."

She smiles, "I'd get to know what Teal'c does then?"

Jack nods.

"And I'd get to figure out his secret?"

"His secret?" Jack asks nervously, wondering just what exactly Teal'c told her.

"Oh, he didn't say anything," she says quickly, understanding why Jack looks so nervous. "But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that there is something about him that being from another country doesn't quite explain."

"Yes, you'd get to know Teal'c's secrets, even read his very interesting medical file, if you wanted."

"It sounds like a deal," Shelby says.

"I don't suppose I could talk you into crashing on my couch until the money kicks in, could I?" he says, looking at the cushions behind him with sadness in his eyes.

She shakes her head.

"Ok, well, at least let me give you this," he says, taking a bill out of envelope and handing it to her.

"I told you I don't want handouts."

"Teal'c is just repaying you for the sandwich you gave him when he was sick."

"That sandwich didn't cost no $20 bucks."

"Interest, compounded hourly," he responds, pressing it into the palm of her hand.

Her hand closes around it reluctantly. It meant some cereal, a loaf of bread, a couple of cans of fruits and vegetables. The sort of things you could have without a fridge or a stove.


End file.
